Urban and Transport Planning

Realizing Sustainable Cities: In Japan, Sustainable cities are required in a declining birthrate and aging society. To realize safe, secure, and vibrant cities and transportation, we are researching efficient urban and transportation planning that takes into consideration the environment and people’s lives.
Specifically, We are conducting research on the following topics.
1) traffic safety
2) public transportation planning
3) barrier-free transportation planning
4) clarification of the actual situation of the spongification phenomenon that occurs in the process of population decline
5) compact city planning
6) landscape-oriented city planning
7) measures for city planning in line with the history of historical and cultural civil engineering heritage that take advantage of the uniqueness of the region.

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	Prof. HASHIMOTO Seiji E-mail: seiji [at] okayama-u.ac.jp  Urban Transportation Planning, Community Development by Transportation Policy, Traffic Calming   Directory of Researchers
	Assoc. Prof. HIGUCHI Teruhisa E-mail: higuchi [at] cc.okayama-u.ac.jp  Civil Engineering History, Historical Structures Preservation and Utilization, Visual Town Planning, Disaster Prevention   Directory of Researchers

Walking in a road space can be classified into two categories: “walking along the road in a single road section” and “crossing in a pedestrian crossing section.” Ensuring the safety and security of both types of walking is important for providing a walking space that makes people want to walk.
In this study, we used VR simulations to clarify the structure of unsignalized pedestrian crosswalks that allow pedestrians to cross safely and securely while increasing the stopping rate of automobiles when there are pedestrians crossing the street. 

	Assoc. Prof. UJIHARA Takehito E-mail: ujihara [at] cc.okayama-u.ac.jp Urban Planning/Urban Environment/Urban Transportation    Directory of Researchers

We conduct research on urban and transportation planning to realize sustainable urban structures and transportation systems. For example, we are working on the phenomenon of urban spongification under population decline, environmentally friendly and livable urban structures and measures to realize them, and reconstruction of people-centered urban spaces that are not overly dependent on private vehicles. In addition, we are also conducting research on behavioral change that affects human psychology in order to solve traffic congestion and environmental problems.