Since the late 1990s, local governments have been reducing costs and improving the efficiency of public goods and services through administrative reforms. These reductions in administrative spending have led to a decline in services and a contraction in employment opportunities, leading to a population outflow and other regional declines. In order to build a sustainable community in the era of declining population, information sharing and collaboration platforms have been built in order to effectively utilize limited human and financial resources and secure services based on the needs of residents. From the examples of local initiatives, we can see that local governments are required to collect information on the lifestyles and administrative needs of residents to accurately understand their situation, clarify the future vision of the region, and secure the necessary administrative resources. As well as, there is a trend to deregulate and create unique rules for the region in order to create added value with the flexible ideas of the private sector.

PPPs are different from traditional administrative transactions, and there are still many managers in the government who are performing conventional work. Also, many private companies that deal with governments are too fit for governments to set specifications and work within budget. It is impossible for public and private sectors to restructure transactions fairly without breaking away from the traditional way of working and thinking. Five years ago, we developed an educational program called “City Management Professional School,” and have since produced more than 300 graduates from public and private organizations. We have also been involved in over 100 projects, both large and small. This report summarizes the challenges faced and discusses the type of educational system required for public-private partnerships going into the future.

This article focuses on the use of public space in the Digital Era. In particular, it introduces the policy of public spaces using technology in foreign cities. It introduces the activities of media platforms using IT and SNS from Sotonoba's activities in Japan, and Park(ing)Day, which is a trial of parallel developments across the country, as well as the public spaces in the Digital Era. We want to examine the possibilities and challenges of space utilization in Japan. Chapter 1 introduces NYC311, an open-restaurant and city-bench program in New York City, USA, the Pedestrian Counting System in Melbourne, Australia, as well as the use of technology in overseas municipalities. Chapter 2 presents two technology-transformed streets through the Blueprint for Autonomous Urbanism, published by NACTO, and the Dynamic Streets of Sidewalk Labs in Toronto, Canada. Chapter 3 introduces the activities of Sotonoba and the Park(ing)Day horizontal human resource development course in Japan.

This article examines how nonprofit organizations and the local government achieve common goals and equality. This type of joint work involves two different contexts: ideological cooperation and outsourcing cooperation. Previous studies have pointed out various challenges related to cooperation. This study clarifies the cooperative process through an interview with a grassroots nonprofit organization that works with local governments.

Tourism has become one of the most important governmental policies in Japan in terms of both regional revitalization and economic growth.

The most important goal in the promotion of tourism is to maintain competitiveness on a sustainable basis, and for this purpose, cooperation among various entities is indispensable. In particular, cooperation between the public and private sectors is the core factor. For this reason, PPPs are being promoted in the field of tourism, and in recent years, projects based on specific financial resources have been implemented. (Tourism, DMO, PPP)

A lot of urban infrastructure was developed during a period of high economic growth in Japan. However, local authorities in Japan have been managing these facilities against a background of declining population. Also, the number of vacant spaces in cities has been increasing, often to be left empty. Therefore, as public servants, we have to think about how to use such spaces efficiently. Also, we need to develop a business perspective to better deal with these challenges. Although we face restrictions regarding the management and upkeep of many public facilities due to expenses and limited staff, we are required to manage public spaces from the perspective of the people who utilize them. The time has come to change our mindset as managers. In Toyota City, citizens are involved in the “ASOBERU Toyota Project,” which is encouraging change in the way of thinking and working among public space managers. The staff of Toyota City Hall feel that public spaces have been transformed into to exciting and enjoyable places for the benefit of our citizens.

In this paper, we explore how local governments increase the public finance adjustment fund using panel data at the municipal level in Japan. The analysis presents several results. First, non-merger municipalities secure the finance resources needed to accumulate the public finance adjustment fund through cuts in expenditures. However, they may fear an increase in expenditure due to growth of the aging population in the future. Second, merger municipalities allot an increase in tax allocation, using special computation measures for merged local bodies, for the accumulation of the public finance adjustment fund.

According to market requirements for the complete removal of contamination, excavation has been frequently carried out since the enactment of the 2002 Soil Contamination Countermeasures Law. Because excavation incurs high costs and leads to brownfields, use of institutional controls (ICs) ―non-engineered instruments that limit land use to facilitate redevelopment in a faster and more cost-effective manner―at contaminated sites was introduced in the 2009 amendment. This paper estimates the impact of implementing ICs on the excavation of contaminated soil by probit model using data collected before and after implementation of the amendment. The results indicate that ICs have been selected after the law was amended for sites that do not damage human health. In terms of site characteristics, we found that the contaminated sites with higher removal costs tend to use ICs. Furthermore, contaminated sites located in central Tokyo were inclined to rely on ICs. This result implies that numerous contaminated sites in central Tokyo could be returned to their beneficial use by implementing ICs rather than by excavation of contaminated soil.