A regional development planning stemmed from a plan which stressed “resource development” aimed at increased food production, development of electric power and natural resources in Japan after World War U, and later its direction shifted toward a plan emphasizing “industrial development” However, in the process, the plan leaned toward economic development resulting in the acceleration of industrialization without consideration of improvement of social wel fare of people in the regions on one hand, and on the other a marked difference in the quality of development became evident among different regions.
As a result, recently, an idea on the balanced economic and social development is being emphasized, and plans are being formulated, incorporating the idea to remove ill effects of overcrowdiness in existing large cities to correct regional differences.
Significance of educational investment is reflected in regional development policy changes. However, in reality, regional differences in regard to educational investment still exist. Investment related to education per capita of many prefectures are less than one-half of that of Tokyo-to. Moreover, the concept of balance between economic and social development alienated within the educational investments of lateral investments connected with direct economic development (so called manpower investment) from lateral investments related to human welfare. There are tendencies to concentrate on the former (manpower investment).
What is necessary today for the regional development plan is not the development of regions merely as an economic and administrative unit, but the enforcement of a plan based on the view to coarry out community development as a whole of region residents' life.
