Campus-neighbourhood interaction in the knowledge economy city: Japan as a case study

Abstract

University campuses are known to be a driving force of knowledge. Moreover, due to campuses’ impact on their surroundings, they are also considered as a driving force of physical, social, cultural, and economic change. Therefore, this paper conducts a statistical multi-variate analysis to uncover campus-neighbourhood interaction and the following socio-economic outcomes. Thirteen different variables related to 43 university campuses in Japan and their neighbourhoods’ attributes have been collected and measured. Principal component analysis and multi-linear regression analysis have been applied to uncover associations between selected variables. Additionally, k-means cluster analysis has been applied to discover hidden spatial trends between selected cases studies. Findings have shown that campuses located in highly urbanised accessible neighbourhoods create numerous benefits for students such as maximising students’ residential preferences and modes of transportation. The main outcome of this paper lies in providing the grounds for a holistic framework towards a better decision making for campus development.

Keywords

• Campus development
• Campus design
• Socio-economic relations
• Urbanization
• Spatial economics
• Sustainability