Discussion on Consensus Building for Land Use Management in City Regions: From the Perspective of Local Governance

Abstract

The land use management for city-regions has difficulty in the coordination of interests despite the recent legislation pertaining to land use management by central and local governments. This paper discusses the formation of local governance in Japan in terms of the coordination among local governments and various stakeholders, focusing on the deliberation process of Division in City Planning Area and the land use management by ordinances through case studies. We concluded as follows: 1) The shift “from government to governance” could be observed from the fact that stakeholders' opinion was incorporated through public comment or workshop in the deliberation process, 2) New civil organizations for regional development have been organized through the deliberation process, while the partnership among civil, business and governmental sectors were insufficient, and 3) The city-region land use management needed the institutional support for intergovernmental coordination.