2009 Volume 32 Issue 2 Pages 35-44
This paper is a contribution to the development of the methodology of public involvement(PI) in the decision-making process of a road scheme. In Japan, studies on PI have advanced since the 1990s, and the efficacy of PI has been especially understood. However, each technique of PI, including the Experts Stakeholders Meeting, in which some stakeholders and experts deliberate how to prepare a road scheme, is not adequately acknowledged as of yet. The Experts Stakeholders Meeting is fit for deliberation on the road scheme, which requires a long-term and large-scale view, by providing members with the chance to discuss carefully and closely. At the same time, three issues of the Experts Stakeholders Meeting are suggested in previous studies: (1) the basic direction of deliberation depends on the role of meeting; (2) the deliberation process is affected by the selection of members; and (3) supplying and sharing information play important roles in efficient deliberation. The authors analyzed the case of the Chiba-Kashiwa Road Meeting, which included deliberation on the construction of the bypass of national road among stakeholders and experts from the viewpoint of the abovementioned three challenges, by describing the foundation process, organization of members, deliberation process, and conclusion of deliberation through literature and interview surveys.