Although the birthrate of Niigata Prefecture is relatively high compared to other regions in Japan, the aging problem is still advanced due to the outflow of younger people from the region. Nevertheless, the social mobility of the population can be explained by Tiebout's “voting with one's feet”, meaning that people migrate to a municipality where their preferences for living can be well-satisfied. In other words, regional planning is required to accord the preferences of residents relative to both their current and future residence. The purpose of this paper is to clarify the residents' consciousness about urban development and urban functions by using piece vote data obtained from the questionnaire survey executed by Niigata City Government. It focuses on the difference of residents' consciousness among and within generations.
The following conclusions were made. First, the urban functions and the size of the city affect resident's preference for their current residence. The urban functions are strengthened by urban development, and the size of the city is controlled by urban development. Second, the direction is determined by city planning, and preference for the present residence influences the planning and the preferences of future residents. Finally, it is necessary to consider that the residents' consciousness is not determined by age but by life stage, not by occupation but by economic activity, not by sex but by gender, and not by the residential area but by scope of activity and location. Therefore, when implementing city planning, specifying the key factors for consensus building in the region that is behind the attributes becomes critical important.

JEL Classification: H41, O21