In the three central districts of Tokyo the workers who commute to work there exceed 8 times the number of residents who live there and pay taxes to the local governments. The national and local governments have been building a public transportation system, and a system of highways and roads. But they could hardly meet the growing demands. Today many people who commute to the central districts of large metropolitan areas travel more than 1 hour each way often in overcrowded trains and subways. In the large metropolitan areas especially in Tokyo and Osaka and Nagoya small lots have been developed and houses and apartments were built to house the rapidly increasing urban population over the last 50 years.
Some apartments fall below the minimum standard.
Some of the old wooden rental houses and apartments are totally substandard by today's standard. They need to be rebuilt to make the Metropolis more resistant to big earthquakes and other natural disasters. The large portions of these houses and apartments are concentrated in urban areas. This means they are not easily accessible by fire engines and other large vehicles in case of emergency.