Case Study 2 (A Prefectural Government City)

In this chapter, we verify the existence of urban food desert issues (FDs) and analyse their conditions. The case study area is the centre of prefectural government city. Many elderly people with a high risk of malnutrition live near the central shopping street. This area is close to grocery stores, and there seemed to be adequate access to food. We analysed the main factors that worsen the eating habits of the elderly people. As a result, not only their personal attributes (such as degree of independence, sex, etc.) but also social factors (factors related to local social capital such as daily habits—eating meals with others, joining local activities) are also very important. Then, we classified 57 neighbourhood associations according to the above factors and extracted five clusters. Among these five clusters, two were characterized by the poor eating habits of elderly residents. We classified these two types as food deserts. These clusters are mainly located in city centre. The above research indicates that urban-type food deserts exist in the centre of this city, and social capital is a very important cause.