Toward Understanding Transportation Challenges of Vulnerable Shoppers in Iwaki City

This study focuses on Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, and analyzes and visualizes the spatial characteristics of the distribution of commercial facilities and the distribution of the aging population ratio using the Geographic Information System (GIS). Using commercial facility data obtained from OpenStreetMap and the 2020 Population Census of Japan, the visualization shows that commercial facilities are concentrated in the southeastern part of the city, whereas areas with a high aging population ratio are widely distributed in the western and northwestern parts, confirming a lack of spatial alignment between areas with many commercial facilities and areas with a high aging population ratio. This distribution suggests that, in Iwaki City, where dependence on automobiles is high, there is a possibility that older adults may face difficulties in daily shopping. The findings of this study are expected to provide foundational knowledge for future academic research on means of transportation that support shopping for older adults in Iwaki City.