Local Governance of Community Welfare: Case Study in the City of Kochi

Abstract

This study examined challenges associated with the changing needs of community welfare. Since the late 1990s, the Asahi district of the city of Kochi, Kochi prefecture, has been redeveloped from an agglomerated area of paper factories to a more mixed neighborhood dominated by newcomers and aging wooden housing. The local residents have various community welfare needs, including limited access to bathing facilities, a high population of elderly people living alone, indigent and isolated households, and children in unstable environments. A local governance model was developed while placing the independent-minded stance of citizens at its core. This model is characterized by the representative leadership of community organizations, improvements in profitability, and cooperation with other institutions. Thus, the relationship of community organizations with local government shifted from opposition to cooperation. This example suggests that it is necessary to explore the renewal of local governance on multiple geographic scales and, in the process, to redefine the role of government.