The Relationship between Income Inequality and Politics in Urban Spaces: Analysis Targeting the Metropolitan Area after the Change of Government in 2012

The focus of this paper is on the relationship between income inequality and politics in urban spaces. As a result, in Japan’s metropolitan areas, it was confirmed that the ruling party tended to have a higher vote share in areas with a larger number of low-income groups, and that the left-wing opposition parties tended to have a higher vote share in areas with larger income disparities. Furthermore, it was also confirmed that in regions where the number of high-income groups increased or where income disparity widened, opposition parties seeking to reduce inequality achieved higher vote shares compared to the ruling party.