Associate Professor, Faculty of Engineering (Infrastructure (Civil Engineering, Architecture, Disaster Prevention)/Architectural Planning, Urban Planning)

Yuki Munemasa

Our everyday actions and the transformation of architectural and urban spaces due to redevelopment are thought to occur as a result of voluntary decision-making, but in fact they are also constrained by unconscious and invisible biases. The mechanism of urban development and decline cannot be explained by assuming that people make rational and reasonable decisions and that cities are formed by the flow of goods. We are trying to use various types of data to reveal these hidden and invisible structures.

Recently, many complexes with various functions have been built by both public and private actors. We are building a database of buildings in Japan that combine facilities for the elderly and facilities for children, and we are conducting field surveys. We believe that hints to creating a sustainable society with intergeneration participation in Japan, where the birthrate is declining and the population is aging, can be found in the relationship between the elderly and children.