The Role of Residents’ Movement in the Process of Passage of the Tokyo Metropolitan Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance

Abstract

This paper introduces the former draft ordinance in the process of the enactment of the Tokyo Metropolitan Environmental Impact Assessment Ordinance (October 1980) and the residents’ movements surrounding the draft ordinance, based on materials preserved by the private sector. In the 1970s, against the backdrop of growing public movements calling for anti-pollution, environmental conservation, and local autonomy, public opinion demanded that the environmental assessment system should be implemented at the planning stage, integrated with the social economy, and guaranteed opportunities for a wide range of participation. By documenting the activities of our predecessors in the early days of environmental impact assessment, we would like to help consider the future of the environmental assessment system.