Tokyo Megacity: Past, Present, and Future

The article is devoted to the problem of Tokyo megacity’s competitiveness in the global economy, i.e. its attractiveness for hosting and conducting various types of economic activities, and its ability to provide all members of society with favorable living conditions. The article discusses the formation of Tokyo as a megacity, its role in the economy of contemporary Japan, and its position in the international coordinate system. Under review is the city development policy pursued by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which is accessed by its compliance with the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) No. 11. This goal, aimed at creating inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable human settlements, serves as a basis for the development strategies of all modern cities. Permanent migration in-flow processes and an unprecedentedly high pace of urbanization ignited continuous concentration of population and economic resources in Tokyo. This, in turn, led to a rapidly growing role of the city in the national and global economies. In order to assess the attractiveness of the Tokyo megacity, this article applies international ratings based on the Global Power City Index (GPCI) conducted by the Mori Memorial Foundation’s Institute for Urban Strategies and the Safe Cities Index (SCI) released by The Economist Intelligence Unit Research Center. The article discusses two groups of problems that affect Tokyo’s overall competitiveness. The first group is associated with objective reasons related to the overconcentration of population and economic activity, and the second group is associated with changes in the social structure of Tokyo. An analysis of the two latest program documents of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government shows that the priority goals of the urban policy are the creation of a “safe”, “multifunctional”, and “smart” megacity of Tokyo. The author concludes that the new urban policy is fully consistent with the concept of sustainable development and the UN SDG No. 11.

Japan, Tokyo, megacity, competitiveness, the concept of sustainable development, Sustainable Development Goal No. 11, urban policy, Olympic Games

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