Population Decline through Tourism Gentrification Caused by Accommodation in Kyoto City

Tourism gentrification has become a social issue in tourist cities worldwide. This paper’s research question is as follows: has tourism gentrification caused a population decline in tourist cities? This study aims to clarify the statistical relationship between the population decline and the location of accommodation on the neighborhood association scale. It analyzes Kyoto City, which is one of the most famous tourist cities worldwide. The statistical relationship between two types of accommodation—hotels and simple accommodation—is analyzed, using geographic natural experiments. The study concludes that the neighborhood association with simple accommodation decreased the population more significantly than that without simple accommodation in the historical center of Kyoto City. This result indicates that the tourism gentrification had caused a population decline in the historical center of Kyoto City. Moreover, it was found that tourism gentrification has affected the outside center of Kyoto City. The population decline might be due to simple accommodation being converted from houses due to tourism gentrification. This study’s results suggest the need for urban policy to regulate zoning for the locations of simple accommodation.