Abstract
In Japan, town centers have been deserted for reasons that large-scale retail stores and shopping centers were allowed to move out of towns, and that public facilities were also moved out of towns for the spread of urban functions.
As for the UK, the same thing happened. The plan-led urban policy of Margaret Thatcher promoted developing out-oftowns as shopping centers, and it made town centers deserted seriously.
However, since late 1990s, the UK has made a remarkable progress in bringing retail stores to town centers by Planning Policy Guidance Note 6 (PPG6) in 1996 and Planning Policy Statement 6 (PPS6) in 2005 and also successful in revitalization of town centers by Business Improvement District (BID). This is a big difference from Japanese town centers.
It would not be easy to apply those English policies to Japanese because there are differences in city planning and local government system which have been formed through the long history in each country. But as for BID, Japan needs to learn from English BID to develop our own.
