銭 学鵬

The development and utilization of solar power has become one of the main strategies to address the energy deficit in the 21st century. Japan has set the promotion of solar power as the nation's new growth target for the next 10 years. This study investigated the inter-correlations between a city's penetration level of residential solar power systems (RSPS) and wide-range indexes that, in this article, are divided into three categories: (1) natural factors, (2) social factors and (3) economic factors. From over 200 Japanese cities, the study randomly selected 35 sample cities with population sizes of 50,000 to 150,000. First, through correlation testing, 22 factors closely related to the city's penetration level of RSPS were extracted. Second, through a principal component analysis, the 22 factors were grouped into 6 components to explain the penetration level of RSPS. The sample cities were further divided into groups by cluster analysis based on the six components for further assessment of the group with a high penetration level. The discussion and conclusions are expected to help companies and governments enhance RSPS development.

Transportation infrastructure predominantly supports regional development. This study focuses on a plan to construct High Speed Surface Transportation (HSST), a new magnetic levitation type of transit system in Shiga prefecture. Comprehensive consideration, is needed to plan a new transit system in a local area, not only from the technical and financial aspects, but also from its social influence. In this study, the social psychology research method was applied by a questionnaire survey to explore the factors that lead people to choose and accept HSST in the future. The study tests the fit of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by the Structure Equation Model (SEM) with the information from the residents of Otsu City and Kusatsu City. Results show that the data fit the TPB model moderately well and explain the residents' intentions in accepting the transit. Perceived behavior control, as a construct of TPB, was found to be most closely related to the intentions. This study could be a meaningful experiment for adapting the social psychology theory to transportation planning. Finally, recommendations are proposed based on the results of the model to ensure future ridership. © 2007, JAPAN SECTION OF THE REGIONAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION INTERNATIONAL. All rights reserved.