Journal of Natural Disaster Science

FLOODING AND URBANIZATION IN THE LOWLANDS OF TOKYO AND VICINITY

Masahiko OYA
Professor, Department of Geography, School of Education, Waseda University, Tokyo
and
Shigeko HARUYAMA
Visiting Research Fellow, Science and Engineering Laboratory, Waseda University, Tokyo

(Received 6 May, 1987 and in revised form 8 December, 1987)

Abstract

We studied the features of flooding in urban areas of the lowlands to Tokyo and vicinity, the Naka River Basin. The features of flooding and urbanization were determined by investigating the fluvial geography of this area.

The river basin is divided naturally into two parts; a natural levee zone and a delta. The former is noted for floods of the "bank collapse type", and the latter for floods of the "long stagnation type". Thanks to river conservation projects, major floods are less frequent. But the lower reach, including the zero-meter area, are still susceptible to flooding, especially by "landside water".

Key words

land classification, flooding, urbanization, land use pattern, ground subsidence