The modern autonomous area of Kyoto City was developed from a small　area of 30km2 in the 1880s to its current size of over 800km2. The urban　structure, however, expanded at each step in the history beyond the autonomic administrative territory of Kyoto Township, and physically spread to the suburban towns and villages. The whole area was long under the control of the prefectural and national governments, until prefectural power over urban management was decentralized to the municipal government in 1956.

In modern history, however, Kyoto City has often been represented in publications issued by the municipality as a unique town which developed autonomically, as if without any national intervention.

As faculty members of Kyoto’s outstanding university, my colleagues and I strive to ensure that our research into the city’s development is free from historical revisionism and distortion. Through our work, we seek to create a platform for a discussion that includes diverse, and even conflicting, interpretations of the city’s urban development.