As many new issues are arising in current days, it is necessary to educate students so they can cope with these issues based on multi-disciplinary knowledge and skills. The University of Danang - University of Science and Technology – (DUT) in Vietnam and Utsunomiya University (UU) in Japan have been holding annual workshops from 2018 to 2022. This approach aimed to create opportunities for students to acquire new knowledge, skills, experience with students from a different country, culture and discipline. The main purpose of this paper is to review the process and the output of the workshops, whether they were relevant to developing and enhancing students’ knowledge and abilities for urban planning and other academic skills, to confirm the possibility of addressing various socio-economic issues in today’s society.

As for the method, the authors analyze the series of five workshops by a questionnaire survey to the students and evaluate them from the aspect of their specialties. The authors found that responses differed according to students’ nationality, the venue of the workshop, and how the workshop was held. However, on the whole, the workshops proved to be a good opportunity for students to learn new things. From the point of view of faculty, the students performed favorably. Nonetheless, some suggestions were raised for improvement of future workshops.

As a conclusion, the workshops were all in all successful in developing human resources in urban planning, as students acquired knowledge not only by reading or listening like in a classroom, but also by communicating, discussing, seeing and observing actual sites, and exchanging ideas and thoughts with students from a different country and discipline.

The case of Sungmisan Village was highly evaluated by the Korean government which resulted in efforts to guide and support similar cases in other regions. However, there are several problems that have become apparent with these efforts and are believed to stem from a lack of understanding of ‘networks', which are what led to the success of Sungmisan Village. Therefore, this study aims to clarify the structure and characteristics of various types of ‘networks' between community-based organizations and the status of self-generated community activities in Sungmisan Village. Additionally, and unlike previous studies based on interviews, it became possible to understand the realities of ‘networks' more accurately via analyses of social networks based on specific exchanges of resources. In summary, the dense, broad information sharing and joint projects between organizations housing the same purpose exist as the most vital basis of the entire network. Client referrals and local consumption activities are thought to be capable of carrying out sustainable economic activities through extensive links covering various fields of activities with significant organizations. Lastly, cultural/art/learning organizations play indirect, intermediary roles which cover both the for-profit and non-profit sectors in addition to increasing flexibility within the entire network. The results of the study can be used for the community's solidarity and response to the local problems currently facing Sungmisan Village. Furthermore, it will also help develop citizen-led support policies that induce cooperation between organizations and the formation of network structures.

This study aims to identify changes in the forest vegetation of Mt. Hiei since the Edo period. It investigates current ecological features of the forest structure and identifies species composition with a focus on the forested areas along the Gyoja Path of Enryakuji Temple. In the Edo period, the forests of Mt. Hiei were dominated by P. densiflora. In the current forest structure along the Gyoja Path of Mt. Hiei, forests with C. obtusa as the dominant species were the majority. In the areas where natural forests still exist, and in areas where vegetation recovery is being attempted using deer-proof nets, it is thought that proactive management (such as ensuring sunlight) that encourages the growth of the existing F. crenata and A. firma will lead to ecologically richer forests in the future. In cedar forests where large-diameter C. japonica were present in clusters, the forest floor vegetation was rich, and both cultural and ecological values were confirmed. In planning the future of the forests of Mt. Hiei, it may be essential to think of natural forests and of forests with large diameter trees as the core forests of Mt. Hiei: they play an essential cultural and ecological role on the mountain. With this concept in mind, natural regeneration can be promoted, and the environment within and around the forests can be improved.

Buraku communities are socially disadvantaged areas where problems such as poverty and discrimination have long been concentratedly witnessed. In order to improve the harsh conditions that Buraku communities face, they have built settlement houses throughout Japan since the postwar period to support the residents who have various difficulties, including poverty and discrimination. In Buraku communities in Osaka City, settlement houses, which had long played an important role as a center for community welfare and exchanges among local residents, were closed in 2016 because of the Osaka City policy decision. In response to this, in the Asaka area — one of the Buraku communities in Osaka City — multiple community bases have been created in a variety of ways, including a community café through the remodeling of a vacant unit of municipal housing, a community space through the renovation of a former community center, and a new community facility constructed by a local social welfare corporation. In the newly developed community bases mentioned above, community organizations have been attempting to implement practices for the reconstruction of settlement work. However, according to a questionnaire survey conducted in 2021 by local groups targeting residents, it is found that a lot of respondents experience difficulties in their daily lives and their neighborly ties are undermined. In this study, the authors identified the challenges to reconstruct settlement work as a system of mutual support in the community by analyzing and examining the data collected from the participant observations and a questionnaire survey involving community members.

In North America, Transit-Oriented Development rose as part of New Urbanism, a reformist urban design movement, whereas in Japan, TOD has been developed in an engineering-influenced tradition of planning. As a comparative planning history between the two regions has not been articulated, this study aims to fill this gap by asking: How did the idea of TOD evolve in the Anglosphere and Japan? When and how their practices and pursuits diverged? How does this investigation implicate TOD in global context, including that in the growing global south? By tracing the planning history from the railway suburb, the garden city, the new town move moment, the era of urban reform, and the global spread of TOD, this article identifies, in contrast to TOD in New Urbanism, Japanese TOD is rooted in a more pragmatist and modernist approach from its westward communication and local development. Both practices emphasized a synthetical transformation of land use, city form and transportation for social purposes, but these pursuits were sometimes asymmetrically achieved in history. Nowadays, when theories of land use, city form and social equity waned in the globalizing TOD concept, we argued TOD should adhere to their tensions and debates for approaching the common good.

The Korean government has been executing Multi-Region Tourism Development Projects to effectively promote tourism development policies by organically connecting unique tourism resources in the area. These projects have mainly focused on tourism development. Thus, there are concerns that the execution of these project in traditional villages may destroy the traditional aspects. The purpose of this study is to reveal the traditional elements of traditional villages influenced by the actions of Multi-Region Tourism Development Projects and to clarify their tasks to conserve traditional villages. The major content of the Multi-Region Tourism Development Projects in traditional villages is landscape improvement. The projects set a range that encompasses the traditional village and its surroundings for improvement, which indicates that the existing images of traditional villages could be negatively affected. As a result, to preserve the traditional villages facing the introduction of Multi-Region Tourism Development Projects, it is suggested that a variety of themes not be introduced into a single project. Furthermore, before experience facilities and tourism convenience facilities are constructed, the distinct image of the village should be accessed thoroughly.

This study explored the possibility of reorganizing transit-oriented urban structures from the way residents’ trip destinations are tied to the station sphere. We observed the compactness and concentration of trip destinations around railway stations for various purposes. Many municipalities fall under the compact city policies of the state for expanded conurbations, to optimize their current economic and population situation. Our survey that was conducted in the field of activity spaces scopes the case of the conurbation with de popularization. We established the Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe conurbation as our research objective and used the 2010 Person Trip Census data for the overall analysis. In this study, we analyze “Commuting,” “Purchasing,” “Leisure, and” “Ordinary Task.” As a result, it is suggested that even the mature conurbation with population decline has the potential to encourage people to compact their residential areas and destinations. Moreover, the overlap between these destinations also provided a perspective on proper use based on each railway line and location characteristics within the conurbation. We observed 16 patterns that fell under the four types of destination agglomeration, where a relationship with the station's location was apparent.

Urban shrinkage has become a global phenomenon, appearing not only in developed countries but also in China, which is undergoing rapid urbanization. Although numerous studies have investigated the distribution of shrinking cities, most of them analyzed from the population dimension. It is necessary to consider the economic dimension and long-term studies. This study takes all prefecture-level cities in mainland China as the research subject. It addresses three questions: 1) How did the spatio-temporal distribution of shrinking cities change between 2000 and 2020, from the perspectives of demography and economy? 2) What are the types of shrinking cities and their distribution, according to the shrinking dimensions and shrinking period? 3) How does the distribution of shrinking cities vary across different urban contexts, such as city size and urban resources? The results show that more than half of Chinese cities are experiencing permanent resident loss. And population shrinkage is observed before the economic decline. Among shrinking cities, the largest proportion shows shrinkage in the single dimension of the population. Additionally, the number of cities with both shrinkage in population and economy increased significantly after 2015, accounting for 19.7% of all shrinking cities. Moreover, 44.7% of shrinking cities are suffering continuous shrinkage. Furthermore, the proportion of shrinking cities is higher in small and medium-sized cities and resource-based cities. This study describes the evolution of shrinking cities in China and enriches the discussion on urban shrinkage worldwide. The findings can remind urban policymakers and planners of more attention on shrinking cities and planning strategies to cope with urban shrinkage.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resultant preventive measures worldwide have accelerated a change in the way millions of people work. Telework became necessary to prevent the spread of coronavirus and reduce office workers’ health risk. The change in employees’ workstyle may directly impact commuters’ travel behavior, which affects individuals’ residential area choices and companies’ office location choices, ultimately affecting urban development and transportation infrastructures. This research aims to investigate preferences for telework among Japanese employees and, in hybrid workstyles, identify the factors that affect the best trade-off between commuting-based work and telework. A web-based questionnaire collected data which was analyzed using ordered probit modeling. Results revealed that 25% of non-telecommuters want to switch to telework and that the number of workers who want 100% telework increased from 4.9% to 8%. Regression analysis showed a strong influence of socioeconomic and demographic characteristics on the choice between commuting and ICT-based work. Results of this study make it possible to understand office workers’ intentions to work remotely and predict how this will affect economic activity distribution within urban areas. It is also possible to consider an actual case of the implementation of ICT infrastructure for specific segments of society.

Managing stormwater close to where it falls is an effective stormwater control method. Since public spaces are densely and widely distributed in cities, they are expected to have a positive impact on flood mitigation as a way of source control, when being integrated with stormwater management functions. However, to design a stormwater public space that balances its use as a public amenity and as stormwater management infrastructure remains an interdisciplinary challenge.This study aims to conclude a design methodology that encompasses a holistic stormwater management philosophy within the site scale, as well as spatial design strategies that make public spaces attractive amenities and part of the urban stormwater management system. To achieve this goal, first, a literature review of various influential stormwater management concepts in urban drainage that have been adopted into urban planning was conducted. Second, an empirical analysis was retrieved from two concrete public space design cases of stormwater parks in the USA and China. It is clarified that large spatial height differences, and sanitary and safety problems of the collected stormwater are two main issues resulting from the conflict between the site’s managing runoff and serving as a public facility, negatively affecting the continuity of landscape effects, usability, etc. Strategies to address these issues are also concluded.

This study focused on the Agricultural-Housing Management Company, the management entity of Agricultural-Housing buildings constructed by the Agricultural Housing City concept. Agricultural-Housing management Company is a management company by Agricultural-Housing building owners. Most Agricultural-Housing management Companies have been dissolved, but the dissolution process is not straight forward. In this study, we focused on Corporas Harima Agricultural Housing Management Company. We identify the dissolution process of the company and the management status of 17 buildings after the dissolution to clarify the continuity of management due to differences in management methods. We clarified whether it could be considered the housing stock.

After the dissolution of the Agricultural-Housing management Company, 11 buildings continued to housing rental operations, and six buildings were redeveloped. The six buildings that chose to redevelop had relatively low occupancy rates. Of the 11 buildings that continued to be managed for housing rental operation, ten were outsourced to real estate companies, but 4 of them had already stopped accepting residents and were not functioning as housing stock due to poor management conditions. One of the 11 buildings was self-managed, the vacant rooms were renovated into community space, and community development was implemented. Adding community space, stores, and other non-housing uses to one of the buildings has become a place where people other than residents can visit and is being adequately maintained. However, it was difficult to implement in other buildings because it required active involvement of the owner. There have been cases of outsourced management, but four of them have stopped offering new residents. There were two ways to keep the building functioning as housing stock for the future, redevelopment or active utilization like self-management building. Therefore it is necessary to provide professional advice to building owners.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Bangkok was one of the most visited tourist destinations. Thus, an alternative tourist accommodation market has expanded rapidly especially on Airbnb platform. The number of properties listed on Airbnb reached 38,249 listings in 2019 with an annual average increase of 34% since 2015. Our previous study (2020) revealed that there was a possibility of rental housing market distortion from Airbnb in inner Bangkok because of the high presence of Airbnb to the number of households that rent the property for their accommodation, based on a city-wide study of Bangkok.

This research aims at (i) investigating the conversion tendency of rental housing to Airbnb properties in the tourism-centric districts in inner Bangkok just before the Covid-19 pandemic and (ii) elucidating the socioeconomic factors and mechanisms that lead to conversion of rental housing to Airbnb. The study focuses on apartments and condominiums as they accounted for 83.4% of Airbnb listings by house-type in inner Bangkok. The results suggested that the ratio of Airbnb to rentals in the current market distribution (A-R ratio) indicated apartments had higher transformation tendency to Airbnb than condominiums. This is because (1) apartments are more favorable to conersion to Airbnb than condominiums in terms of the return of investment (ROI) metrics, (2) apartment operators are business entities that have the ability to manage their properties for Airbnb effectively, and (3) the condominium juristic person (CJP) prohibits unit owners to use their units for Airbnb in many complexes. Secondly, conversion to Airbnb is more prevalent in the city center because the area is more convenient for sightseeing and shopping than in the inner suburbs, especially for apartments. On the other hand, there is no uniform relationship between proximity to mass transit stations and the conversion to Airbnb, where distance from a train station does not necessarily indicate a clear distinction between rental housing and Airbnb locations.

The Smart City (SC) constitutes an imagined future city that achieves improved public service efficiency through technological development. However, the answers to how a smart city approach can contribute to urban sustainability still need to be clarified. Therefore, this study examines smart city development as a solution for urban challenges by comparing smart city services in two countries, Korea and Japan. Smart city initiatives and plans from local governments were collected from 16 cities in Korea and 20 cities in Japan. At the same time, major urban issues for both countries are identified in physical, economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The linkage between urban challenges and smart city services is visualized with a network graph. The results show that the majority of the services are relevant to spatial and environmental urban challenges. Also, the use of big data and AI is dominant. Smart city approaches can help local governments to overcome the lack of resources in the era of population decline and aging society and enhance urban safety issues.

Mixed land use and travel behavior are two important factors that describe the development of an urban environment. For a better interdependency between land use and transportation systems, for developing countries like Sri Lanka, it is important to have sophisticated transit systems and land use planning. Ensen Kaihatsu is a concept related to Transit Oriented Development (TOD), originated in Japan, which means development along railway line. Therefore, this study focused on quantitatively evaluating the applicability of Ensen Kaihatsu concept for land use planning around transit stations in Colombo. The study was based on two key analysis, which were preliminary time series analysis on land use and person trip data of the Tama Garden City (Den-en-toshi line) and a forecast study on change in daily railway passenger ridership and land use allocation for the case of Sri Lanka. In the preliminary analysis it was identified that the increase in residential and commercial land use around each transit station has resulted in an increase in daily railway passenger ridership and development of the area as a residential-commercial area. For the forecast study, single objective land use allocation optimization model approach was considered in developing the basic functions, in which the objective function was to maximize the daily railway passenger ridership, for a time series of 30 years. In order to identify the most optimized land use allocation to implement the Ensen Kaihatsu concept in Colombo, linear programming approach was used. Ultimately, the study indicated that application of Ensen Kaihatsu concept for land use planning in Colombo would result in a higher daily railway passenger ridership. Furthermore, application of single objective land use allocation optimization model based on linear programming approach resulted in the most effective land use allocation to provide the highest daily railway passenger ridership in each station considered. Accordingly, it was observed that positioning of each station as a network and land use planning in the perspective on Ensen Kaihatsu concept could result in an improvement in the quality of space around each transit station in Colombo.

In Asian countries, including Japan, projects to regenerate waterfront areas and ecosystem-friendly environment in urban areas have been widely implemented. It is necessary to improve rivers safely and comfortably by considering a wider picture of cities and human settlements. This study thus aimed to compare priority issues for urban riverfront based on residential environment from childhood till present. This study conducted a questionnaire survey of residents near the Furukawa River, which flows through Minato Ward. This study divided the respondents into four groups based on residential environment from childhood till present. The groups who had had a natural childhood environment considered the following main issue: “having a river where children can play safely.” This study found that people who had a rich natural environment during childhood tended to seek waterfront, greenery, and accessibility for children in the current river environment. It is essential to create opportunities for children to experience the natural environment during their childhood, as it is not easy to develop an interest in preserving natural resources in the urban environment if they have little experience with nature. Therefore, it is necessary to re examine issues concerning the river from the perspective of residents and consider the urban riverfront, since it is easy for diverse people to commit to such an urban environment.

In recent years, urban aging problems related to population aging and decline have attracted much attention in regional development policies. We suggest the perception of a city by residents from the perspective of residential satisfaction and sentiments about the place of living could contribute to addressing urban problems at various levels and types. In our study, we revealed 10 principal components of residential satisfaction and analyzed the types of cities categorized by urban aging problems, considering the components of satisfaction and residents' sentiment. Results are the following: 1) Perception of a city tends to vary depending on the progress of urban aging problems. 2) The greatest difference is in satisfaction with Leisure and activities, which have a certain relation with urban aging. 3) As for the sentiments about the place of living, they do not appear to be much different, especially those for happiness, although these rates tend to depend on the aging of infrastructure, the highest enrichment with various kinds of facilities, and satisfaction with leisure and activities.