The 50-year spatial transition of suburban industrial parks and impacts on sustainable urbanization in the Tokyo metropolitan area

Suburban Industrial Parks (SIP) promote orderly industrial land agglomeration, contributing to sustainable land use transition. Previous studies mostly focused on socio-economic effectiveness and environmental strategies, while the multiscale spatial transition of SIPs and their roles in sustainable urbanization were not thoroughly examined. This study analyzes the temporal pattern of spatial features (TPSF) of SIPs in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area (TMA) using an original suburban industrial community (SIC) model that integrates SIP with its neighborhood. We investigated 110 SIPs established since 1959 across three investigation periods. The results reveal: 1) SIPs influence industrial land use in their neighborhood areas, mostly ranging from 500 to 2500 m. 2) SIPs’ effects on industrial land agglomerations vary over time, demonstrating three development phases: the first phase exhibits the strongest intensity of agglomeration; the second phase falls to the weak; and the third phase recovers a strong agglomeration. 3) Multiscale industrial agglomeration patterns show that 56 % of SIPs in the TMA contribute to orderly spatial transitions; 4) Main road networks facilitate industrial agglomeration. This study proposes the importance of adaptive land use management strategies for SIPs by development phases, and the SIC model could be an applicable tool for land use planning in metropolitan suburbs.