ACTAGEOGRAPHICA GEOGRAFSKI ZBORNIK SLOVENICA 2019 59 1 ACTA GEOGRAPHICA SLOVENICA GEOGRAFSKI ZBORNIK 59-1 • 2019 Contents Maja KOCJANČIČ, Tomislav POPIT, Timotej VERBOVŠEK Gravitational sliding of the carbonate megablocks in the Vipava Valley, SW Slovenia 7 Małgorzata KIJOWSKA-STRUGAŁA, Anna BUCAŁA-HRABIA Flood types in a mountain catchment: the Ochotnica River, Poland 23 Irena MOCANU, Bianca MITRICĂ, Mihaela PERSU Socio-economicimpactofphotovoltaicpark:TheGiurgiucountyruralarea,Romania 37 Andrej GOSAR The size of the area affected by earthquake induced rockfalls: Comparison of the1998 Krn Mountains (NW Slovenia) earthquake (Mw 5.6) with worldwide data 51 Matej GABROVEC, Peter KUMER Land-use changes in Slovenia from the Franciscean Cadaster until today 63 Mojca FOŠKI Using the parcel shape index to determine arable land division types 83 Mateja FERK, Matej LIPAR, Andrej ŠMUC, Russell N. DRySDALE, Jian ZHAO Chronology of heterogeneous deposits in the side entrance of Postojna Cave, Slovenia 103 Special issue – Green creative environments Jani KOZINA, Saša POLJAK ISTENIČ, Blaž KOMAC Green creative environments: Contribution to sustainable urban and regional development 119 Saša POLJAK ISTENIČ Participatory urbanism: creative interventions for sustainable development 127 Jani KOZINA, Nick CLIFTON City-region or urban-rural framework: what matters more in understandingthe residential location of the creative class? 141 Matjaž URŠIČ, Kazushi TAMANO The importance of green amenities for small creative actors in Tokyo: Comparing natural and sociocultural spatial attraction characteristics 159 ISSN 1581-6613 9 771581 661010 ACTA GEOGRAPHICA SLOVENICA 2019 ISSN: 1581-6613 COBISS: 124775936 UDC/UDK: 91© 2019, ZRC SAZU, Geografski inštitut Antona Melika Internationaleditorialboard/mednarodniuredniškiodbor: DavidBole(Slovenia),MichaelBründl(Switzerland),RokCiglič(Slovenia), Matej Gabrovec (Slovenia), Matjaž Geršič (Slovenia), Peter Jordan (Austria), Drago Kladnik (Slovenia), BlažKomac (Slovenia), Andrej Kranjc (Slovenia), Dénes Lóczy (Hungary), Simon McCharty (United Kingdom), SlobodanMarković (Serbia), Janez Nared (Slovenia), Drago Perko (Slovenia), Marjan Ravbar (Slovenia), Nika Razpotnik Visković(Slovenia), Aleš Smrekar (Slovenia), Annett Steinführer (Germany), Mimi Urbanc (Slovenia), Matija Zorn (Slovenia) Editor-in-Chief/glavni urednik: Blaž Komac; blaz@zrc-sazu.si Executive editor/odgovorni urednik: Drago Perko; drago@zrc-sazu.si Chief editor for physical geography/glavni urednik za fizično geografijo: Matija Zorn; matija.zorn@zrc-sazu.siChief editor for human geography/glavna urednica za humano geografijo: Mimi Urbanc; mimi@zrc-sazu.si Chief editor for regional geography/glavni urednik za regionalno geografijo: Drago Kladnik; drago.kladnik@zrc-sazu.si Chief editor for spatial planning/glavni urednik za regionalno planiranje: Janez Nared; janez.nared@zrc-sazu.si Chiefeditorforruralgeography/glavnaurednicazageografijopodeželja:NikaRazpotnikVisković;nika.razpotnik@zrc-sazu.si Chief editor for urban geography/glavni urednik za urbano geografijo: David Bole; david.bole@zrc-sazu.si Chief editor for geographic information systems/glavni urednik za geografske informacijske sisteme: Rok Ciglič; rok.ciglic@zrc-sazu.siChief editor for environmental protection/glavni urednik za varstvo okolja: Aleš Smrekar; ales.smrekar@zrc-sazu.si Editorial assistant/uredniški pomočnik: Matjaž Geršič; matjaz.gersic@zrc-sazu.si Issued by/izdajatelj: Geografski inštitut Antona Melika ZRC SAZUPublished by/založnik: Založba ZRC Co-published by/sozaložnik: Slovenska akademija znanosti in umetnosti Address/Naslov: Geografski inštitut Antona Melika ZRC SAZU, Gosposka ulica 13, SI – 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija The papers are available on-line/prispevki so dostopni na medmrežju: http://ags.zrc-sazu.si (ISSN: 1581–8314) Ordering/naročanje: Založba ZRC, Novi trg 2, p. p. 306, SI – 1001 Ljubljana, Slovenija; zalozba@zrc-sazu.si Annual subscription/letna naročnina: 20 € for individuals/za posameznike, 28 € for institutions/za ustanove. Single issue/cena posamezne številke: 12,50 € for individuals/za posameznike, 16 € for institutions/za ustanove. Cartography/kartografija: Geografski inštitut Antona Melika ZRC SAZU Translations/prevodi: DEKS, d. o. o. DTP/prelom: SYNCOMP, d. o. o. Printed by/tiskarna: Tiskarna Present, d. o. o. Print run/naklada: 350 copies/izvodov The journal is subsidized by the Slovenian Research Agency and is issued in the framework of the Geography of Slovenia coreresearchprogramme(P6-0101)/revijaizhajaspodporoJavneagencijezaraziskovalnodejavnostRepublikeSlovenijein nastajav okviru raziskovalnega programa Geografija Slovenije (P6-0101). The journal is indexed also in/revija je vključena tudi v: SCIE – Science Citation Index Expanded, Scopus, JCR – Journal Citation Report/Science Edition, ERIH PLUS, GEOBASE Journals, Current geographical publications, EBSCOhost,Geoscience e-Journals, Georef, FRANCIS, SJR (SCImago Journal & Country Rank), OCLC WorldCat, Google scholar,and CrossRef. Oblikovanje/Design by: Matjaž Vipotnik. Front cover photography: Stone bridge over the Rak River on the outskirts of the Rakov Škocjan polje, which is otherwiseknown for its beautiful natural bridges (photograph: Matej Lipar).Fotografija na naslovnici: Kamniti most čez reko Rak na obrobju kraškega polja Rakov Škocjan, ki je sicer bolj znano počudovitih naravnih mostovih (fotografija: Matej Lipar). THEIMPORTANCEOFGREEN AMENITIESFORSMALLCREATIVE ACTORSINTOKYO:COMPARING NATURALANDSOCIOCULTURAL SPATIALATTRACTION CHARACTERISTICS Matjaž Uršič, Kazushi Tamano In intensely urbanized Tokyo, green areas are of great importance. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3986/AGS.4710 UDC: 316.334.56:331.102.312(520Tokio) COBISS: 1.01 The importance of green amenities for small creative actors in Tokyo: Comparing natural and sociocultural spatial attraction characteristics ABSTRACT: In the last decade, the Japanese authorities have invested considerable effort and economic resourcesintoconstructingdevelopmentalmodelsthatcanhelpbuildafriendlierenvironmentforthedomes­tic creative economy. Due to Tokyo’s specific natural and sociocultural characteristics, these efforts have had mixed effects on small creative groups. Based on an analysis of spatial attraction factors for individ­uals from various creative occupations, this article identifies how important green or natural amenities are in comparison with other sociocultural characteristics for small creative groups. The analysis of data acquiredthroughsemi-structuredinterviewsindicatesthatgreenamenitiesdonotplaya primaryrolein thespatialdistributionofsmallcreativegroups,buttheydoplayaveryimportantsecondaryroleincases when creative workers balance similar spatial attraction characteristics in specific areas in Tokyo. KEYWORDS:spatialattractionfactors,naturalamenities,greenamenities,creativesectors,creativeecosys­tem, small creative actors, Tokyo Pomen zelenih dobrin za male kreativne akterje v Tokiu – Primerjava naravnih in družbeno-kulturnih značilnosti prostorske privlačnosti POVZETEK:Vzadnjemdesetletjusojaponskeoblastivložilevelikotrudainekonomskihvirovvizdelavo razvojnih modelov, ki bi pomagali zgraditi prijaznejše okolje za domačo kreativno ekonomijo. Ta priza­devanjasozaradispecifičnihnaravnihindružbeno-kulturnihznačilnostiTokijarazličnovplivalanamajhne ustvarjalneskupine.Napodlagianalizefaktorjevprostorskeprivlačnostizaposameznikeizrazličnihkreativ­nihpoklicevsmovčlankuugotovili,kakopomembnesozelene,tj.naravnedobrinevprimerjavizdrugimi socialno-kulturnimiznačilnostmi, ko gre zamajhne ustvarjalne skupine. Analizapodatkov, pridobljenih prekpolstrukturiranihintervjujev,razkriva,dazelenedobrinenimajoprimarnevlogezaprostorskodistri­bucijomajhnihkreativnihskupin,vendarimajozelopomembnosekundarnovlogovprimerih,kokreativni delavci primerjajo podobne značilnosti prostorske privlačnosti na določenih območjih Tokija. KLJUČNE BESEDE: faktorji prostorske privlačnosti, naravne dobrine, zelene dobrine, kreativni sektorji, kreativni ekosistem, mali kreativni akterji, Tokio Matjaž Uršič University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Social Sciences, Department of Sociology matjaz.ursic2@guest.arnes.si Kazushi Tamano TokyoMetropolitanUniversity,GraduateSchoolofHumanities,DepartmentofBehavioralSocialSciences tamano@k.email.ne.jp The article was submitted for publication on September 29th, 2016. Uredništvo je prejelo prispevek 29. septembra 2016. 1 Introduction Global structural changesintradeandindustrialproduction have affected theJapaneseeconomy,which, due to its relative dependence on the domestic market (Kenkyujo 2007; Miyazaki 2008), is increasingly investing in innovative technologies and production, which are intended to open new markets and gen­erate economic growth. In this view, creative industries, often referred to as the creative economies, are increasingly seen as a valuable tool for diversifying the local economic base and replacing jobs lost in traditional industrial and service sectors (Rausch and Negray 2006; Bole 2008; Chapain, Clifton and Comunian2013;Gielen2013;Kozina2016).Creativeindustriesarebecomingamoreimportantsegment of urban economies, but the share of creative employees in Japan is increasing slowly in comparison to other economically developed countries (Sasaki 2003; Yoshimoto 2009). Although Japan cannot be identified as a typical liberal market, but rather as a special form of »coor­dinatedmarketeconomy«(HallandSoskice2001,8),thetransformationofglobalmarketsandproduction chains,theriseofdigitalization,andinformatizationhaveradicallychangedthepositionoftheemployed in small creative firms that were traditionally embedded inmanufacturing (Fujita and Hill2005; Karatsu 2001). New types of production that intensified in the 1990s and demanded greater flexibiliation, inter-nationalization,quickerproduction,andfasttransferabilityofknowledgewerelessfavorableforJapanese creative groupsembeddedinveryspecific historical, cultural,and politicalcircumstances. Inthisregard, Clifton, Cooke, and Hansen (2013, 204) state that »varieties of capitalism« depending on specific national environments differentlyinfluencethe location dynamicsof thecreativeclass. Similarly,Godina(2015) mentions the case of Japan, which shifted into the capitalist system while being strongly embedded and path-dependent on place-specific traditions, rituals, and cultural practices. Due to these specific contex­tual and spatial characteristics, the Japanese creative economy was better prepared for »incremental« or coordinatedinnovationratherthanthe»radical«(i.e.,disruptive)innovationmodeltypicalforliberalmar­kets(Nemet2009,702).Thecircumstancesdescribedwerefavorableforpowerfullargecompaniessupported by government institutions and banks, which attracted the majority of the creative workforce. Today, the main economic power and creative employment still resides within large companies, but inthelastdecadeatrend inan increase insmall creativegroups andindividualshas beennoticed; thatis, smallcreativefirmsthattrytoestablishthemselvesinaverycompetitivemarket(Sasaki2003;Hanzawa2009; Kon 2010; Goto 2014). Japanese policymakers often neglected the significance of smaller firms, which is ofhugeimportanceinthecaseofhighlyeconomicallyvulnerable,grassrootscreativeactivities.Fromthis perspective,establishingconditions tobetterempower small creativegroupsto create (self-)employment and thrive in the context dominated by large firms is of extreme importance. Thisarticleanalyzesspecificsocial-physicalelementsoftheeconomicenvironmentinwhichcreative groupsareembedded.Namely,weexplorewhatkindofworkingenvironmentandconditionsareexpect­edfromtheperspectiveofthesegroups.Forthispurpose,wepayparticularattentiontohowthesegroups perceive the importance of »soft and hard location factors« (Musterd and Murie 2010; Martin-Brelot et al.2010;Alfken,BroekelandSternberg2015)intheirworkingandlivingenvironment.Whereashardloca­tionfactorsmainlyapplytotheavailabilityofcertainresources,softlocationfactorsapplytoimprovements inone’sgeneralqualityoflifeorlifestyle.Inthisrelation,wecomparewhethernaturalorgreenspatialattrac­tionfactorssuchasparks,openrecreationalareas,andotherenvironmentalfactorsareofhigherimportance for the new bottom-up emerging creative firms in comparison to other sociocultural attraction charac­teristics of Tokyo. On the basis of interviews, a questionnaire, and official statistics, we analyze whether existingplacesandurbanconditionsprovideoptimalcircumstancesforthelong-termformationofsmall (bottom-up) creative actors. 2 Conceptualization: spatial attraction characteristics and the Tokyo creative ecosystem Asthe importance ofthe innovation sectorandcreative economies rises, Tokyo and other Japanese cities are increasingly trying to improve their spatial advantages and create an environment ofmicro-locations that are better adapted for creative businesses (Tokyo Metropolitan Government 2014; Kim 2015). The advantagesofindividuallocationsforcreativeindustriesarereflectedthroughvariousfactors,rangingfrom greenareastotheamountofrentforbusinesspremises, transport links, access tocustomers,lifestyleori­entationsofemployees,extentofsocialnetworks,andproximitytosocioculturalactivitiesandleisure.All of these factors are anintegral part ofthe creativeecosystem,defined as an environmentthatsupports or is »focused on creative-based activities« (Rivas 2011, 4). It comprises places following the example of the creativecityandeconomyintheformofcreativeindustries,followingspecializedwaysofexchanging,inter­acting, and communicating; people, (i.e., members of the creative class); and social and cultural capital, social networks, and so on (Scott 2006; Markusen 2006; Rivas 2011; Bell and Jayne 2004; Florida 2010). Itcanbepresumedthat,whensearchingforappropriateworkingconditions,smallinnovativefirmsapply thesystemofprogressiveeliminationortaperingofthemostnegativeelementsandpursuitofthemostsuit­able options that meet their development needs. In doing so, they rely on what behavioral economics calls cost-benefit analysis, or CBA (Tevfik 1996), and decide on a suitable location only when they feel satisfied with the majority of conditions that minimize unnecessary costs (Giddens 1984). In accordance with their perceptionofcontextualandspatialelements,potentialusersofasiteforcreativeactivitiesrigorouslyassess allpossiblecostsanddonotonlypayattentiontotheeconomicpriceofrentorpurchasecostofthepremises. Forexample,thequalityofnaturalamenities,transportaccessibility,costofaccesstothemarket(customers), mental/emotionaleffortrequiredtooperateatthelocation,levelofculturalheterogeneity,accesstovarious amenities, services, cooperation between similar companies, openness of the local community, and so on areallelementsevaluatedbypotentialusers. Forpotentialusers,eachoftheseelementscanrepresentasig­nificant cost, inappropriate effort, or, on the other hand, comfort and relief, which may significantly affect their work and either discourage or attract them to a location. These are the so-called push/pull factors in attracting creativegroups (Gottlieb 1994; Musterd and Gritsai 2012; Krätke 2011). Anysuitablelocationfordevelopingacreativemilieucomprisesanumberofpullfactorsthatsuccessfully attract specific groups of people. In doing so, it is important to emphasize that specific pull factors heav­ily depend on the decisions of city or national authorities about how to intervene in space. Such is also thecaseofgreenareas,whicharescarceinTokyo’sphysicalspace. AlthoughthecentraldistrictsofTokyo generallyhavesomegreenareassuchastheImperialPalaceandlargeprivategardens,manyofthesespaces arenotaccessibletothepublic.Kobayashi(2015,8)writesthatinTokyo»spaceswhereforestsandthenat­ural environment can be experienced are actually very limited.« A comparison of Tokyo with other global citiesshowsthatTokyohasanextremelylowpercentageofpubliclyaccessibleparks,gardens,squares,and cemeteries (Figure 1). Figure1:Worldcities’publicgreenspaces (parksandgardens),percentagebyproportionofarea(Source:WCCF,WorldCitiesCultureReport2012,2015). Fromthisperspective,itseemsthatthe»Tokyomodel«ofasustainabledevelopmentstrategyisnotpar­ticularlyconcernedwiththestrategicintegrationofgreenspaces,butreliesontheimplementationofincremental (i.e.,veryparticular)projectsconnectedtothedevelopmentofgreenareas.PasturbandevelopmentinTokyo considerablyunderminedmanynaturalfeaturesandamenitiesthatmakeotherglobalcitiesattractiveinthe firstplace.Therapidgrowthoftheurbanpopulationandincreasingdensityhaveputpressureontheuseof space for construction where natural amenities were barely integrated into public space. Although at first glance the importance of nature for developing the local milieu and small creative groups for city development seems small, this does not mean that global cities cannot be affected by the availability of green spaces in the long term. For example, Florida (2005) asserts that specific factors that deeply affect the spatial distribution of creative sectors are at first glance more visible than other factors thatmay greatlyinfluencethe attractionpotential ofspecific citiesinthe future. Such changesmay occur at the micro or local level and are sometimes less noticeable but still have a deep and important impact. One such factor is described as »urban sprawl and ecological decay« (Florida 2005, 172) and could grad­ually significantly change the attraction hierarchy of global cities in the long term. 3 Methodology and research process The major goal of the research was to accumulate variouslayersof datato make itpossible to analyze the influenceofplaceandenvironmentontheorganizationofworkforspecificpartsofJapanesecreativesec­tors. In this regard, we approach small creative groups and individuals from the perspective of »creative occupations«; that is, by focusing »more closely on what cultural workers do rather than what they make« (Markusen et al. 2008, 25) and thus not taking into account the entire range of those employed in a par­ticular sector of the creative industries. Relying on Florida’s (2005) broad definition of the creative class, basedon which weidentifiedthe creative fieldsofpeopleincludedin thestudy,like DeNatale andWassall (2006) we sought to narrow down the large occupational categories by identifying specific components of the creative cluster (e.g., defining enterprises and individuals that directly and indirectly produce cultural products in a specific area),the creative workforce (e.g., defining the thinkers and doers trained in specif­ic cultural and artistic skills that drive the success of creative industries in specific areas), and the creative community (e.g., defining a geographic area with a concentration of creative workers, creative businesses, and cultural organizations in specific locations of Tokyo). The combination of specific components of the creativecluster,creativeworkforce,andcreativecommunityallowedustofilteroutpersonsnotdirectlyengaged in creative tasks and at the same time to capture the creative employed and self-employed that are usually not considered part of the creative industries or creative workforce (e.g., general software, art crafts, etc.). There were two stages in the research. The basic research model first included acquiring qualitative data through face-to-face interviews and then quantitative data through questionnaires. As such, in the firststage,keypersonnel(e.g.,directors,managingdirectors,keydevelopers,engineers,researchers,etc.) ininstitutionsthatprovidejobsandattractalargenumberofself-employedcreativeindividualswereinter-viewed. A total of twenty-three interviews in twenty different institutions were carried out from August to September 2014. Such institutions included co-working spaces, start-up incubators, and art and cre­ative labs in Tokyo’s central wards of Minato, Chuo, Shibuya, Shinjuku, Chiyoda, Sumida, Bunkyo, Taito, andShinagawa(markeddarkgreyinFigure2).Afterdetailedinterviewswithkeypersonnelintheseinsti­tutions, the second stage of the research process addressed creative individuals from small firms (mainly rangingfromonetofiveemployees)thatareassociatedwithanddirectlyusetheservicesorworkingspaces in these institutions. As such, the key personnel in the institutions provided a sort of entry point for the second stage of the research process, which surveyed the creative individuals through a semi-structured questionnaire. Altogether, 102 respondents from thirty-five different institutions that spend their work­ing time in Tokyo’s central wards were surveyed from September to November 2014. The data acquisition method used is a form of two-stage snowball sampling or chain (referral) sam­pling (Atkinson and Flint 2004; Morgan 2008; Voicu 2011). Such a non-probability sampling technique inwhichthoseinterviewed(inourcase,thekeypersonnelincreativesupportinstitutions)inthefirststage allow the researcher to access additional subjects (from among people that are part of institution’s social network)foraquestionnaireinthesecondstageoftheresearchprocessisoftenusedforpopulationsthat are difficult for researchers to access. In particular, independent creative workers that are highly mobile, Content by: Matjaž Uršič Map by: Jani Kozina Source: National Geographic, Esri, DeLorme, HERE, UNEP-WCMC, USGS, NASA, ESA, METI, NRCAN, GEBCO, NOAA, increment P Corp, Mapzen Figure 2: Tokyo’s central wards included in the analysis. non-sedentary, possess special skills or innovative approaches, and highly value privacy perfectly fit the description of a populationthatisdifficultto access for researchers. Inour sample, 70.6%of respondents fromthequestionnairebelongedtothe26–35and36–45agegroups,58%weremale,andintermsofsocial status they were middle class (40% earned Y150,001 to Y300,000 per month). Due to the snowball sam­plingtechnique,itwasimpossibletofocusonlyonaspecificcreativeoccupationorconcentrateonanalyzing averyspecificcreativeindustry;instead,weusedthe»occupationby-industryapproach«(Markusenetal. 2008, 37) to analyze specific occupations within larger creative industry fields. The research focuses on a general analysis of spatial factors in the creative ecosystem for small creative groups and individuals in Tokyo’s central districts. The questionnaire was divided into various sections that included general ques­tionsregardingTokyo’screativeeconomyanddetailsrangingfromindividuals’creativefield,spatialfactors, andvalueorientationstotheirrelationtowardurbandevelopmentanddemography.Theindividualsinclud-ed in the questionnaire were based in very different creative occupations (27% arts and culture creation, 24%architecture,15%generalsoftwareandcomputergames,12%crafts,11%design,and11%othergroups). The open-question (qualitative) data were analyzed separately, and the quantifiable data were appropri­ately coded and inputted into the SPSS database for further analysis. 4 Analysis of results: the role of natural and sociocultural spatial attraction characteristics for small creative groups in Tokyo The collected data confirm the importance of specific spatial factors for creative individuals that work in Tokyo’s central districts. Undoubtedly, the most important spatial factor in the case of Tokyo is access to mobilityinfrastructures.IncomparisontoEuropeancities,wherepersonalnetworksareanimportantpart of spatial attraction characteristics (Musterd and Gritsai 2012), their role does not seem so substantial in the case of Tokyo. Instead, the importance of mobility infrastructures was stressed on various occasions both in interviews and in quantitative data collected from the questionnaire. When asked: »How impor­tantarethefollowingfactorswhenyouarechoosingthelocationofwork?«creativeindividualrespondents put the location and its accessibility by public transport at the top of the list (see Figure 3). Morethan85%ofrespondentsrepliedthatthevicinityofpublictransportroutesandnetworksisavery important characteristic when choosing the present location of work. Similarly important is the need to have adequate work infrastructure (84%) and a good (attractive) interior design of the workplace (81%). Thelocationofworkmustalsohavequalitiesthatallowpersonalgrowthandindividualdevelopment(79%). How important the location is in terms of mobility is further stressed by the need to be accessible to cus­tomers(79%)andindirectlythroughsomeotherfactorsonthelist(e.g.,thevicinityofTokyo’smaindistricts, theproximityofusefulservicesandoffices,etc.).Theimportanceofgreenery,sports,andrecreationfacil­ities ranks at the very bottom of important factors because they are not perceived by creative groups as absolutelynecessaryforwork.TheimportanceoftransportaccessibilityisveryunderstandableduetoTokyo’s extreme metropolitan size,itsdensity,andthe distancesoneneedsto travel. Transportaccessibility iskey for other services, customers, wellbeing, and sustaining formal and informal networks, which from the perspectiveofcreativeindividualsofferenormousmultiplicativeeffectsandaddtothequalityofone’swork. Transport accessibility also stands out as one of the main factors in cases when respondents wanted to change the presentlocation ofwork. Approximately, one-third (32.4%) of respondents wanted to relo­cateinthenextthreeyearsforvariousreasons(e.g.,tofindanotherjobinthesameordifferentinnovative field, to open a new company, etc.). When asked: »In comparison to your present job location, what are the main advantages of the location that you listed as your favorite working environment in Tokyo?« the advantage most often named (in 70.7% of cases) was location and its proximity to main public transport routes(Figure3).Eventhoughrespondentsmayworkinawell-networkedlocationintermsoftransport, they have aspirations to improve it in order to obtain a better workplace. In comparison to other spatial factors that stand out when choosing the present location for work (Figure 3) forexample,theneedforadequatework infrastructure,goodinterior(attractive)designofthe workplace,oraffordablerentattheworkplacewhenchoosingadesiredlocationforworktherespondents again stressed the importance of transport accessibility as the main variable for improving their working conditions and businesses. It seems that their perception of a desired location is based on the experience that they acquired during past years of work in the creative field. In economically very competitive envi­ronmentssuchasTokyo,thebestlocationsareoccupiedbythestrongestcreativeeconomicactors(i.e.,large firms),whereassmallcreativefirmsarelefttopicksecondarylocations.Despitebeinglocatedincentralareas ofTokyo,smallcreativegroupscannotaffordthepremiumworkplaces,butduetofinanciallimitationschoose secondary,peripherallocationsinsidecentralareas.Althoughthesearestillcentrallocations,theyhavespe­cificshortfalls,whichcanberecognizedthroughrespondents’indicationsthatshowtheimportanceofother location factors (e.g., lots of green areas, good access to customers, the character of a neighborhood, and proximity to similar companies and professional colleagues). Although small creative groups put addi­tional emphasis on other location factors, they first want to improve their accessibility and then obtain accesstobetter»secondary«factors.Inthissense,theyareawarethatlocationontheperipheryofthecen­tral districts prevents them from developing their full potential because of the missing additional factors that are not at the selected location. In the case of Tokyo, the accessibility of transport infrastructure represents the top of the »hard loca­tion factors« (Musterd and Gritsai 2012, 346), which also include other variables such as rent, work infrastructure, salary, and so on. The research findings indicate that hard location factors play a signifi­cantroleinattractingyoungcreativeworkers.Althoughtheresultssuggestthathardfactorsareofextreme importance when choosing the location of work, it is important to mention that »soft factors« (Murphy and Redmont 2008, 36) also play an important role. Soft location factors usually include contextual ele­ments that add to enhancement of social aspects in specific environments. In the case of Tokyo, green, recreationalareasandnaturalamenitieswereperceivedbysmallcreativegroupsassociallypleasantleisure places thatadd tothepersonalquality oflife. Inour study,theyareidentified aspartofsoftattractivefac­torsduetotheirfunctionalroleasacatalyzerofsocialengagementorsociability.Inthissense,softfactors Figure 3: Attraction characteristics for creative individuals when choosing the present and desired location of work. p p. 166 Vicinity of main public transport routes, networks Adequate work infrastructure Good interior (attractive) design of the workplace Location allows personal growth and individual development Good access for customers Affordable rent of working place Character of the neighbourhood Good relations between similar firms in the area Vicinity of Tokyo main (central) districts Good salary, good profit The location should be close to home (living place) Good (attractive) outside architectural appearance of the workplace Proximity of useful services and offices (e.g. food, legal offices, university etc.) Good communication between company and ward authorities Vicinity of similar companies and working colleagues Lots of hangout places (bars, cinemas, leisure activities) in vicinity The location should be close to family The international flavour of the neighbourhood with lots of foreign people Lots of shopping areas in vicinity Lots of affordable parking spaces The location should be close to friends Lots of green areas Lots of sport and recreation facilities in the area 166 % Desired location Presentlocation provetobedecisiveincaseswhencreativeindividualscompareworkingspaceswithsimilartransportacces­sibility,priceofrent,orworkinfrastructure. SimilarfindingsaredrawnalsofromtheACREstudy(2010) andotherauthors(MusterdandMurie2010;Martin-Brelotetal.2010;Ravbar2011)thatanalyzesoftfac-tors in Europe. Based on these studies, we may speculate that, when comparing working spaces with similar trans­port accessibility, price of rent, or work infrastructure, creative individuals would prefer to choose locationsthatofferbettersoftlocationattributes(e.g.,plentyofgreenery,lotsofsportsandrecreationfacil­ities, good access to customers, a good neighborhood character, etc.), even at the expense of some of the hard attraction factors such as a good salary or a large number of affordable parking spaces. Even more, the data from Figure 3 suggest that, based on their experience, creative individuals look to soft location factors when making a final decision on where to possibly relocate. It appears that in the »second stage« of creative working development (i.e., after some years of experience at a specific location), individuals recognize theimportanceof or canaffordmore soft location attributeswhenthey searchfora new desir­able location. According to the data in Figure 3, it can be observed that some soft location factors (e.g., greenareas,sportsandrecreationfacilities,thecharacteroftheneighborhood,proximitytosimilarcom­paniesandprofessionalcolleagues,etc.)climbedthepreferenceladderincomparisontotheirpositionbetween theattractioncharacteristicsatthepresentlocationofwork.Ingeneral,transportaccessibilityasthemost important spatial factorstayed at thetop position,but theimportanceof other hard location factors such as work infrastructure or rent considerably diminished in the second step. Theinterplaybetweenhardandsoftlocationfactorscanalsobeobservedthroughtheanalysisofother factors, which emerged after detailed questioning of the interviewees. For example, the creative individ­uals were asked to form specific opinions regarding the statements presented in Figures 4 and 5. The analysis shows that the image of physical location as the dominant spatial factor in the creative ecosystem is softened by the sensitivity of the respondents toward specific socio-spatial transformations thatareoccurringinTokyoandmaychangethecharacteroftheirworkingenvironmentinthelongterm. Theyareawarethateconomicdevelopmentresultsinnewjobsandsupportstheirworkaspirations(Statement 2 in Figure 4) but are also fully aware that intense urban restructuring, renovation, and urban competi­tivenessmay diminishthe qualityoftheir livingandworkingenvironment inthelongrun(Statements 1, 3, 4, and 5 in Figure 4). AlthoughStatements 1 and 4 seem ambiguous at first glance,it isunderstandable Figure 4: Please state how much you agree or disagree with the following statements. 0 5 10 15 20 25 % I’m completely satisfied with my current location Outside Japan Outside Tokyo metropolitan area, other parts of Japan Cities in the surrounding (suburban) area of Tokyo In the same neighbourhood, where my workplace is located Figure 5: Where would you like to live if you could freely choose your location? thatrespondentshighlyvaluetheadvantagesofferedbybothcentralareas(e.g.,accesstoservicesandinfra­structure)andsuburbanareas(e.g.,accesstogreenareasandnaturalamenities,lesstraffic,andurbandensity; see Figure 5). Similarly to the data in Figures 4, 5, and 6, the respondents latently show a high interest in soft loca­tionfactors,whichgainmoreimportancewhennotdirectlylinkedtoworkingconditions.InFigure6,the respondents were asked to evaluate the main attraction factors for home; that is, the location where they (would like to) live. In the Japanese context, which highly values work and the work ethic, the hard location factors that add to work still remain at the top of the priority list for creative workers. However, when offered addi­tional possibilities of evaluation, the quality of the living and working environment is not perceived by creativeindividualsonlyintermsofaccesstohardspatialfactorsandeconomicincentives,butalsointerms of access to natural amenities (e.g., proximity to large natural areas and city parks), which scored partic­ularly high in the evaluation of soft factors that are important when choosing a place to live. 5 Conclusions TheresearchshowedthatJapanesecreativeworkersinsmallfirmshighlyvaluespecificspatialfactorsthat add to their personal growthandquality of work. It alsoshowed that theTokyo creative ecosystemis still basedonhardlocationfactorssuchasaccesstopublictransportandprovisionofadequateworkinginfra­structure,whereassoftlocationfactorssuchasnaturalamenities,sportsandrecreationfacilities,diversity, and international flavor play an important secondary role. Natural amenities thus do not play a primary role for the distribution of small creative firms, but they do play a very important secondary role in cases when creative workers balance similar hard attraction characteristics for specific areas in Tokyo. In the case of Tokyo’s small creative groups, green amenities, in order to »survive« in the very harsh inter-com­pany competitive environment, do not function as an important category for selecting a working space. Inordertoimprovetheirstatus,creativeworkersinsmallfirmswouldratherobtainaccesstoabetterwork­ing location than to greenery, parks, or natural and recreational areas. Figure 6: What are the most important reasons when it comes to choosing your home or where you live? p Priceofrent Proximitytoworkingplace ProximitytoTokyomain(central)districts Possibilitytoleadyourownlifestyle Closetomainpublictransportroutes Closetobiggernaturalareas Closetofamily Proximityofusefulservicesandoffices (e.g.food,legaloffices,universityetc.) Proximityofcityparks Lesspollution Closetofriends Abundanceofshoppingfacilitiesandoptions Proximityofdiverseculturalofferandamenities Closetieswithlocalcommunity Communityrespectfortraditionandvalues Lotsofhangoutplaces(cafes,cinemas,leisureactivities)invicinity Enoughparkingspaces Traditionalarchitecturaloutlookoftheneighbourhood Proximityofsportandrecreationfacilities Closetonightlifeactivities(concerts,clubbing) BiggerdistancefromtheTokyomain(central)wards % The strong hierarchy of attraction characteristics for work shows that policy could take some pre­cautionarymeasurestoeasetheburdenofsmallandvulnerablecreativeactorsthatarejustenteringavery competitivemarket.Italsopointstotherelativelydiminishedimportanceofnaturalspatialattractionchar­acteristics,whichisnotthecaseinothercitiesandcountriesintheworld(seePoljakIstenič2016,WCCF 2012 2015; Ravbar, Bole and Nared 2005; Huggins and Clifton 2011; Clifton and Kozina 2015). If interna­tionalizationintermsoftransferofsocioculturaltrendsreallyinfluencesthecreativeglobalsectorsinTokyo, the importance of natural amenities could significantly change in the future. Some authors (Moller 2008; Moreno-Penaranda 2011) have already noticed the increasing importance of natural and green areas as an asset forsocio-spatialdevelopment. Fromthisperspective,natural amenitiesthat are currentlynoton the priority list of small creative groups in Tokyo’s central districts could greatly influence the distribu­tion and density of creative occupations in the future. Specific urban policies in Tokyo on a grand scale (i.e., at the instrumentalist level) already focus on the development of green areas in central parts of the city(e.g.,theMarunouchiproject,Toranomon,theUminoMori»SeaForest«marinepark,etc.),butthey donotsystematicallyintegrateenvironmentalfactorsintotheschemeofsustainabledevelopmentandcon­nect it with general urban development of the city. Asimilarsituationisreflectedatthemoregenerallevelofurbancompetitivenessofcities,whereTokyo is seeking to retain its role among global cities and to implement various strategies and projects to revi­talize its economic potential (see Tokyo Metropolitan Government Bureau…2013; Tokyo Metropolitan Government 2014). These strategies mainly rely on improving hard location factors, which partly helps inrevitalizingspecificcityareasbutalsoopensthediscussiononwhetherthestrategiesshouldhavebeen moreoriented toward softlocation factors,including improvingqualityandaccess to natural, green, and recreationalareas,whichalsoplayanimportantroleinotherglobalcities(Sassen2001;Machimura1997; Pain et al. 2015). 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