Abstract
The purpose of this study is to understand “living through involvement in community” in areas developed by the residents as part of community projects planned by them for the maintenance of residential environments and to find the key to the formation of a successful sustainable community. These residents gathered together out of a willingness to participate in the community for the purpose of sustainable community management.
A questionnaire survey was administered in the months of July and August, 2014, for the residents of suburban areas that were developed as part of the community projects based on Uji City's community-building ordinance in 2011.
The residents had relatively high feelings of involvement in community organization and activities, and nearly sixty percent of the residents possessed a desire to be involved in community activities. This is evidenced by the fact that they demonstrated a high rate of “living through involvement in community, ” meaning life attitudes toward the community and consciousness of community roles, which largely affects the formation of their willingness to participate in the community. Such a living style was also present in feelings of attachment or belonging to the community and a desire to continue living there. This confirmed that “living through involvement in community” had taken root in and permeated through the community.
The study also found that with an increase in the residents evaluated contractual items when signing contracts for buying housing, the higher were their life attitudes toward the community and consciousness of community roles. An awareness of the value of contract items forms the basis of every individual citizen's attitudes toward daily life and their consciousness of community roles. Sharing these attitudes may have been the key to the organization of a community-building committee and planning tasks centered in this committee.
As a new value that replaces contracts at the time of sales in lots, this community-building plan is expected to maintain and improve living environments and residents' cooperation by being passed down along with the circumstances of its establishment.
In addition to the above, we can point out the need for the awareness of sociality that the residences possess and importance of rule-making that tackles interpersonal relationships in the neighborhood for sustainable suburban residential living.
