2016 Volume 125 Issue 4 Pages 627-645
Many Japanese non-metropolitan cities face accelerating depopulation. Some are expected to disappear in the near future. The national government attempts to develop regional core cities in a way that is likened to “dams for preventing population outflows.” Prefectural government cities (PGCs/Kencho Shozaitoshi) are this policy's main focus. Through a case study on Matsue, this paper examines whether PGCs, especially those with superiorities only in public administration and consumption, have the ability to take on such roles. In the postwar era, PGCs continued to grow due to the sustained concentration and expansion of management functions in public administration. National policies such as amalgamation of basic industries such as banking, broadcasting, and newspapers, as well as establishment of national universities on a prefectural basis, also contributed to this growth because most of their main offices and facilities were located in PGCs. These led to population increases and induced retail and service sector developments. Nevertheless, PGCs are now at a crossroads. Due to the financial crisis, sweeping public administration reforms led to a sharp decrease in their workers. Their populations are aging, and thus are decreasing. This leads to more challenging management environments for regional (prefectural) business enterprises such as prefecturally amalgamated banks. On the other hand, this population change brings rapid growth in the medical, health care, and welfare (M, H, and W) industry. The locations of core facilities in this sector are also concentrated on PGCs. Although M, H, and W is now one of the key industries in PGCs, its economic structure will not be sustainable in the long term if PGCs cannot attract aged persons from other areas. As a settled promotional policy, Matsue appealed for its superiority of livability, ranked highest by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI). However, Matsue's livability concept lacks consideration of elements such as job opportunities or work life. Furthermore, its settled promotional policies seem to be separated from industrial policies. For example, Matsue seeks to develop knowledge-intensive information technology industries, but its settled promotional policies do not take the characteristics of those workers and their preferences for living environment into consideration. If Matsue wishes to attract inhabitants based on environmental superiority, it must interpret livability concepts more comprehensively and make more strategic environmental improvements. Such efforts are likely to be common tasks of Matsue-type PCGs.
