Page 16 - Changing Living Spaces

Satosthi Murayama

Table 1 Elements of Living Spaces
1) Animals 2) Plants
i) aquatic animals i) greening
ii) wildlife ii) forestry (afforestation, deforestation)
iii) domestication iii) wild plants (edible, medicinal, spiritual)
iv) zoo and aquarium iv) crops (agroforestry, agriculture)
v) species preservation and extinction v) invasive species
vi) species preservation and extinction
3) Microorganisms 4) Water
i) biosphere/photosynthesis/energy i) urban water
ii) atmosphere ii) lakes and river water
iii) microbes iii) ground water
iv) infectious diseases and vectors iv) wetlands
v) pandemic/endemic v) seas and oceans
vi) zoonosis vi) irrigation
5) Air 6) Land
i) atmosphere i) lithosphere/cryosphere
ii) clean air ii) soils/fertilizer
iii) air/space pollution iii) earth movers
iv) weather iv) cultural/ecological landscapes
v) climate change (anthropogenic and natural) v) continents and islands
7) Disasters 8) Foods
i) natural events i) food security
ii) extreme weather events ii) food and technology
iii) anthropogenic environmental disasters iii) animal husbandry/pastoralism
iv) historical records iv) land and sea nomadism
v) mitigation v) material circulation (land and sea links)
vi) resilience and recovery
9) Waste 10) Humans
i) biological waste i) gender/sexuality/social capital
ii) chemical and hazardous wastes ii) population/family
iii) waste management iii) ethnicity
iv) material circulation iv) nature views/religion/ethics
v) consumption behaviour v) ecological footprint
vi) education

In Eurasia, Europe has a much lower population density (22 people per
square kilometre; Soumu-sho Toukei-kyoku 2013, 24) than Asia (132 people
per square kilometre; Soumu-sho Toukei-kyoku 2013, 32). But such a simple
discussion immediately fails if one does not limit space to residential are-
as only, but also includes mountain areas, lakes, rivers, and oceans. Let me
first make a brief comparison of climate patterns between Asia and Europe:
figure 3 shows only the differences in Living Spaces due to the distribution
of precipitation and temperature. The spread of human settlements differs
greatly between Asia and Europe. In Asia, the Living Spaces are composed
of a wide range of regions, from low to high temperatures and low to high
precipitation. There is a big difference between Asia and Europe. The con-
cept of Living Spaces covers the full range of space-place issues: (1) residen-

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