Lifestyle of Suburban Residents and Media Strategies for Public Involvement in Infrastructure Planning

Abstract

In the infrastructure planning process, effective communication of information through media strategies is important in ensuring that the public is aware of and understands various infrastructure projects. To assess what media strategy is effective in involving the suburban residents of the Tokyo Metropolitan Area in infrastructure planning, an opinion survey was conducted to estimate the Index of Reaching Information (IRI) between two groups of residents in the suburbs in northwest Chiba prefecture, namely "central business district (CBD) commuters" and "local workers." These groups represented two lifestyles, where the CBD commuters tend to spend only nighttimes and weekends in the suburbs. Of the ten media considered, television and national newspaper columns had the highest IRI. The local newspaper column was effective for local workers, while the Internet and advertising posters in trains were effective for CBD commuters. Circulars and city bulletins were effective for both groups.