Abstract
Green infrastructure and ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction (GI/Eco-DRR) policies have recently attracted attention in Japan for their potential to resolve various social pressures such as regional economic development, disaster prevention and mitigation, and environmental conservation. Past studies of policies related to the natural environment have mainly investigated changes in biodiversity-related administrative plans, policies, and projects led by national and local governments, and the status and effects of their implementation. However, few such studies have examined municipal GI/Eco-DRR administrative plans, policies, and projects in Japan at the national scale. Therefore, this study conducted a nationwide survey of municipal officials regarding their awareness of GI/Eco-DRR administrative plans and the implementation of related projects. The results revealed that the role of GI/Eco-DRR in administrative plans differs according to the type of plan, and that the implementation of GI/Eco-DRR-related projects is influenced by the type of ecosystem in which the projects are implemented and the size of the local population. Staff awareness of green infrastructure tends to be higher in larger than in smaller municipalities, and larger municipalities are more likely to proactively incorporate GI/Eco-DRR into their administrative plans. Differences in the implementation status of GI/Eco-DRR policies among municipalities are attributable to factors such as the lack of information dissemination opportunities, specialised human resources, and financial resources, which are closely related to municipal population size.
