The Spatial Characteristics and Evaluation of "Gaien" in Nagoya, Japan

Construction of “gaien” (in Japanese) started at Nagoya City in 1921 and there are 322 gaiens in April, 2002. In spite of its popularity, their features are not still obvious. So, It’s important to clear the spatial characteristics and rating of gaien, as fundamental reference data for considering the planning, improvement and administration of high-rating point “gaien”. In this paper, “gaien” is defined as “a park which is designed for distinguished landscape point”, and 273 gaien’s fundamental data are collected based on questionnaire and interviewing to the government workers and people who live around the districts. This study aims to clarify the spatial features and fundamental roles of gaien. The results of this study on the spatial characteristics of gaien (area, arrangement and shape, etc) indicate a few high-rating points as park and some problems which should be solved in the future.