地域経済低迷要因としての若年層流出と生活満足度との関連について : 心理・社会・経済的要因に基づく地域間比較からの検討 <論説>

広島県中山間地域の若年層流出とUターン者数低迷の原因を探る目的で都市部、都市周辺部、中山間地域の高校3年生を対象に、地域の状況および生活の満足度のアンケート調査を行った。その結果 1)中山間地域では、都市部、都市周辺部に比し、『愛着心』『会話』『交流』『環境』『身体』『安全性』の要因で評価が高く、一方、都市部では『社会インフラ』の項目で評価が高く、これらが生活満足度に正の影響を及ぼしていた。2)「住居選択」の項目は「地元好意」「趣味施設」「勉学環境」「交通の便」などの項目によって規定されていた。3)『家族機能』の要因は『生きる力』と定義された『身体』『活力』『自己肯定』『安全性』に正の影響を及ぼし、一方『住みやすさ』の要因はこれらに負の影響を及ぼし、非経済的メリットと経済的メリットが地域で機能的に分化していた。

以上の結果より、中山間地域は『生きる力』に繋がる『家族機能』と『住みやすさ』が同時に得られる社会インフラ整備、学校立地、企業のあり方を含めた地域の内発的発展が望まれる。

We regard the exodus of young people from our home as a factor in the breakdown of the regional economy. We investigated high school students (third grade) concerning the distinction, in terms of life style and satisfaction, between their living in (i) the suburbs of Miyoshi City (as a rural area with hilly and mountainous terrain), (ii) the suburbs of Hiroshima City (as an area having the mixed features of both rural and urbanized environments) and (iii) the central area of Hiroshima City (as an urbanized area). The investigation was carried out by using both sociology-based and psychology-based questionnaires (BREF-WHOQOL26).

The main results are as follows.

1) Factors relating to attachment to home, communicative activities and interchange with people from other regions, natural conservation, physical abilities, performance and concentration abilities, selfaffirmation, safety from natural disasters, were more highly estimated in hilly and mountainous area than in the suburbs and central area of Hiroshima City. On the other hand, factors relating to infrastructure were more highly estimated in the central area of Hiroshima City than in other areas. Additionally, by regression analysis, it was shown that these factors positively influenced the total QOL scores of students in three areas.

2) Factors relating to selection of residence were prescribed by affection shown at home, recreation and leisure facilities, the circumstances of education, traffic convenience and so on.

3) Factors relating to physical abilities, the ability to survive, self-affirmation as a survival power were influenced statistically positively by familial function and, on the contrary, were influenced statistically negatively by living comfort. Thus, the economic profit and non-economic profit functioned separately against their QOL in antinomy, in rural areas and urbanized areas, respectively.

From these findings, a policy that induced the adjustment of infrastructure, school location, employment opportunities, obtaining simultaneously both living comfort and the familial function, and which produced the power to survive was considered to be fundamentally necessary for the activation of the indigenous development of hilly and mountainous areas.