The development of the urban system and the hierarchy of cities in newly opened regions: Hokkaido, Japan and South Africa

摘要

This paper aims to analyze the pattern and process of distribution of cities in the newly opened regions by tracing the historical changes of the urban system in Hokkaido, Japan and in the Republic of South Africa. The history of colonization is not so long in the newly opened regions. This means that we can study the genesis and development process of cities from the beginning of colonization. These frontier cities often have the gateway func-tion influencing over the wide surrounding region. The main concern of this study is to find out how urban functions and the urban system change from their beginning in the newly opened region. This study examines the relation between the hierarchy of cities and the locational characteristics of branch offices for the analysis of the postwar urban system in Hokkaido. We can discern the three stages in the development of the urban system in newly opened regions. First stage is the formative period: coastal regions were the centers of the exploitation and port cities were dominant. Second stage is the growth period: the ex-ploitation made great progress in inland regions and the coastal cities and inland cities were in conflict with each other. Third stage is the reorganization period: the economical centers move towards inland regions and the inland capital gets dominant.