Cities, autonomy, and decentralization in Japan / edited by Carola Hein and Philippe Pelletier.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hein, Carola.

Pelletier, Philippe, 1956-

Series:

Routledge contemporary Japan series ; 7.

Routledge contemporary Japan series ; 7

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Decentralization in government--Japan.

Decentralization in government.

Japan.

Central-local government relations--Japan.

Central-local government relations.

City planning--Japan.

City planning.

Physical Description:

xvi, 199 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Routledge, 2006.

Summary:

Japan is known as a country in which a potent central power reigns over a compliant hierarchy and, for planning, this has meant strong centralized government control. Nevertheless, examples of autonomy have always existed in the politics, society, and economy of Japan and thrive today in various forms, particularly within urban areas. Following the growth and subsequent collapse of the bubble economy in the early 1990s, and in response to globalization, new trends toward local autonomy and political and economic decentralization are emerging that must be evaluated in the context of Japan's larger political and socioeconomic setting as it becomes increasingly integrated into the global system.

Cities, Autonomy, and Decentralization in Japan addresses these new initiatives, providing a cogent compilation of case studies focusing on the past, present, and future of decentralization in Japan. These include small-scale developments in fields such as citizen participation (machizukuri), urban form and architecture, disaster prevention, and conservation of monuments. The book offers the first in-depth analysis of this development outside Japan, approaching the subject from a unique urban studies/planning perspective as opposed to the more common political science method. With contributions from a leading group of international scholars on Japanese urban planning, Cities, Autonomy, and Decentralization in Japan provides a valuable new addition to the current English-language literature.

Contents:

Introduction : decentralization and the tension between global and local urban Japan / Carola Hein and Philippe Pelletier

Local initiatives and the decentralization of planning power in Japan / Ishida Yorifusa

Concentration and deconcentration in the context of the Tokyo capital region plan and recent cross-border networking concepts / Nakabayashi Itsuki

Financial stress in the Japanese local public sector in the 1990s : situation, structural reasons, solutions / Alain Schebath

Centralization, urban planning governance, and citizen participation in Japan / André Sorensen

Machizukuri in Japan : a historical perspective on participatory community-building initiatives / Watanabe Shun-Ichi J.

Whose Kyoto? : competing models of local autonomy and townscape in the old imperial capital / Christoph Brumann

Conclusion : decentralization policies : questioning the Japanese model / Carola Hein and Philippe Pelletier.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0415326036

020335849X

OCLC:

61115520

Publisher Number:

9780415326032 (hardback : alk. paper)

9780203358498 (ebk.)

Online:

Publisher description