Promoting Social and Economic Integration Through Sustainable Urbanization

Urbanization in Japan

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Dominique O’Farriill Zacarias

Committee: ECOSOC

Country: Japan

Delegates: Dominique O’Farrill

Topic: Promoting Social and Economic Integration through Sustainable Urbanization

Sustainable urbanization is the ability to ensure that urbanization can be connected to development in economic, social, and environmental methods. As a key component of the post-2015 discussion, sustainable urbanization is currently one of the main goals of the international community.

Japan experienced a progressive urbanization throughout the 20th century. Due to the continuous rural-urban migration in the latter half of the century, urban population reached 78.6 % in 2000. The period of the high economic growth in Japan accompanied the rapid urbanization, despite its positive and negative effects. National development planning, as well as urban policy, has thus long been addressing urbanization challenges, by integrating economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

The Comprehensive National Development Plans had addressed a wide range of problems that were brought about by the massive demographic flows by defining measures to reduce geographical concentration in metropolitan areas, to locate diverse functions in outside metropolitan areas and to support rural areas facing significant depopulation.

Talking about the metropolitan regions and sub-centers the Government offices, research centers and universities located at the center of Tokyo that have been relocated to the sub-center cities in the suburban areas of the Tokyo capital region, which has contributed to reducing over-concentration in the center of the capital. Thanks to the relocation, 180 hundred officials have been distributed to outside Tokyo.

Based on the national plans, regional plans are formulated as well by organizing eight regional councils, each one of which consists of the relevant prefectural governments and other stakeholders as well as national authorities. Proposals by the municipalities are also well examined in the planning process. Spatial planning process in Japan has contributed to effective policy-making and governance for sustainable urbanization.