Due to the restrictions against urban development, the population inside the ward is continually decreasing.

Higashiyama-ku has the lowest population of all the wards in Kyoto, and a disproportionate number of elderly people.

In the north, between the Kamo River and Higashi-oji street, there is a commercial district, and in the south there is a semi-industrial zone.

Many of the locations central to the development of 15th-century Japanese culture known as Higashiyama Bunka are found here or in Sakyō-ku.

Both the entertainment district of Gion in front of Yasaka Shrine, and the area around the stone-paved roads Ninenzaka and Sannenzaka that lead up to the World Heritage Kiyomizu Temple, enjoy protected status to preserve the traditional style buildings.