This thesis discusses changing priorities in urban infrastructure in Japanese cities especially due to emerging pressures such as ' internationalization', the shift to ''knowledge-intensive industries', and the search for a higher urban 'quality of life'. Case studies are presented of four major projects under way in metropolitan Nagoya during the early 1990s, which the author visited as part of field studies under taken in 1994. These are: 1) The Chubu International Airport, a national infrastructure project; 2) The Aichi Cultural Center and the International Design Center Nagoya, address the issue of 'culture" and are regional infrastructure projects; 3) The Shidami Human Science City, which was designated in the 'City's New Basic Plan' as a priority project to upgrade the city's economic infrastructure. The research findings suggest that in the 1990s, Nagoya was indeed moving towards a new urban development strategy based around these major infrastructure projects.

This thesis discusses changing priorities in urban infrastructure in Japanese cities especially due to emerging pressures such as ' internationalization', the shift to ''knowledge-intensive industries', and the search for a higher urban 'quality of life'. Case studies are presented of four major projects under way in metropolitan Nagoya during the early 1990s, which the author visited as part of field studies under taken in 1994. These are: 1) The Chubu International Airport, a national infrastructure project; 2) The Aichi Cultural Center and the International Design Center Nagoya, address the issue of 'culture" and are regional infrastructure projects; 3) The Shidami Human Science City, which was designated in the 'City's New Basic Plan' as a priority project to upgrade the city's economic infrastructure. The research findings suggest that in the 1990s, Nagoya was indeed moving towards a new urban development strategy based around these major infrastructure projects. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate