NIRA OPINION PAPER
No.36 | April 2018

The Possibilities of Local Commons
Shigeki Uno
Executive Vice President, NIRA / Professor, The University of Tokyo

Makoto Hayakawa
Professor, Rissho University

Over the past several years, the idea of the “commons” has once again began togain traction as a governance model. What kinds of possibilities exist for local
communities to revitalize themselves through cooperative management of their own
resources? This paper explores the policy implications of the emerging concept of the“local commons.”
Japan today faces an epidemic of vacant homes and unused plots of landthroughout the country, contributing to a phenomenon known as the “spongification ofurban areas,” in which a decreasing population density results in the proliferation of
pockets of underutilized space. As Japan’s population decline continues to depress bothconsumer demand and the monetary value of land, it is difficult to imagine a scenario
in which market forces alone can ensure the efficient use of land. Amidst this backdrop,a system in which the government coordinates between holders of underutilized land
and those who would put it to productive use is beginning to emerge, in which usage
rights can be redistributed efficiently without getting tied up by an undue focus on thetransfer of ownership. As this dynamic coalesces into a public institution, the emergenceof a new “local commons” in which regional sustainability is prioritized and decision
making rooted in the diversity of local needs is realized, can be seen.
It is important to note here that the concept of the “local commons” is broader
than a mere change in land management practices. It encompasses a revolution in thevery rules and networks governing the use of space, and the personal relationships oftrust that underpin them. Achieving a true 21st century “local commons”, will requireconnecting the trust built up over time in and around specific local communities into
the global network of information, logistics and services.

Copyright Ⓒ 2018 Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

1

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No.36 | April 2018

Introduction
In recent years, the idea of the “commons” as an important concept in local governancehas been gaining traction. Why however, has there been a resurgence of interest in a concept thatoriginated in medieval English practices of communal management of natural resources such as
pastoral land. This report examines the reemergence of the “local commons,” as a concept and its
significance for Japan today.
The driving force behind the resurgence of interest in the concept of the "commons" inmodern times can be traced back to the famous 1968 article, "The Tragedy of the Commons"
written by Garrett Hardin and published in the journal Science. The “tragedy” of the commons
being that while the shared resources that communities depend on (the commons), can, if properly
managed, be used sustainably by large numbers of people, they can also easily be destroyed by asmall number of people abusing them for short-term personal gain, often with little to no recourse.
Is there no middle ground between national central planning and private property based market
mechanisms to avoid this tragedy? This question has been the subject of much debate.
Elinor Ostrom issued a rebuttal to "The Tragedy of the Commons" using case studies fromlocations all over the world, for which she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.
According to her research, local communities can effectively manage collective resources througha combination of formal and informal systems. Under such a system, mutual supervision prevents
rule violations in the day-to-day use of resources, while enabling a flexible approach to resource
use based on the observed condition of the resources. The key to this approach is the accumulationof social capital, that is, a high degree of trust and reciprocity, within local communities, anobservation with meaningful implications for modern Japan.
In fact, Japan has a long tradition of common land, and research into this historicalJapanese concern for the environmental sustainability of common areas is thriving. However, thisreport, will focus instead on the policy implications of the aforementioned “local commons” forregional communities.

Increasing numbers of vacant houses and local commons
Let us look at an example. In much of urban Japan, the number of vacant houses andplots of land is increasing rapidly. A 2013 survey conducted by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure,
Transport and Tourism found that the number of vacant houses had increased by 8.3% in the last
five years alone, while the total area of vacant land had increased by 28% in the same time period.
The increase is even more dramatic when looking strictly at vacant land held by individuals (asopposed to corporations or the government) with a 55% increase in the past five years. In particular,

Many people helped create this report. We would like to give special thanks to the following individuals who were kindenough to make time in their busy schedules to be interviewed: Mr. Takuya Kurita, City Bureau Director at the Ministryof Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; Mr. Yoshihiro Maeda, CEO of Linkers Corporation; Prof. Gakuto
Takamura, Professor of the Policy Science Faculty at Ritsumeikan University; Mr. Genji Mori, Election Section Chief of
Self-Government Bureau at the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications; and Prof. Toshihiro Nishiguchi,
Professor Emeritus at Hitotsubashi University (all titles current at the time of the interviews).
Copyright Ⓒ 2018 Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

2

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No.36 | April 2018

land that changes hands through processes such as inheritance is often left abandoned and unused,
contributing to the rapid spread of this phenomenon known as “spongy urban areas.”
What is causing this situation, and how might it be properly addressed? Under normal
circumstances, a healthy demand for land and housing would allow the problem to resolve itself
via market mechanisms. However, demand in Japan has remained chronically depressed due tothe declining population, and as a result, the real market value of land is dropping, creating a
scenario in which an increasing number of people are choosing to neglect or even outright abandon
their inheritance. Japan's land system is based on the assumption of a consistently increasing
population (particularly in regards to regulations on zoning and urbanization), and now that thisis no longer true, Japanese are left exposed by a contradictory policy that fails to reflect or adapt
to reality. The inadequacy of the market as a mechanism to resolve land utilization under Japan’scurrent system, suggests that a new approach may be necessary.
Applying the concept of “local commons” to the problem of land use in Japan stands out
among the potential solutions. Assuming there is no dramatic change in Japan’s situation, there
is a pressing need to establish a new balance in land policy in which, instead of leaving everything
to the private sector, government continues to play a stabilizing role, while new types of entities
emerge that can push forward with innovative urban policies. Urban development focused
associations, foundations, cooperatives, nonprofit organizations, and social enterprises are all
examples of the kinds of entities that would take a leading role in this new system. These are all
examples of organizations that, despite nominally belonging to the private sector, carry out someform of public service role in local areas.
Alexis de Tocqueville, a thinker in 19th century France, emphasized the roles of
spontaneous groupings of residents which he called "associations"—in his observations ofAmerican townships. As the stakeholders in modern Japanese urban development continue toincrease and diversify, they too, can be thought of as 21st century iterations of the 19th century“associations.”
As alluded to earlier, in areas where demand may be insufficient to guarantee an adequate
return on investment, a situation facing many localities in Japan today, there is a need for new
kinds of quasi-public institutions that can make decisions based on the specific conditions ofindividual localities, while emphasizing local sustainability. This is borne out in the urban
landscape of various regions of Japan, where local faces turn a profit in a challenging marketplace
while serving the public interest through sheer initiative and hard work.
The government has begun to act in response to this newly evolving reality, for example
with the passing of the Law on Partial Revisions to the Urban Green Space Conservation Act andRelated Measures, enacted in June 2017, which opened the door for the use of parks as well as
designated green and open areas spaces to local business and social enterprises, a move that has
provided significant momentum for the sustainable use of these public spaces. At a time when thefiscal constraints of local governments inhibit both the construction of new facilities and therenovation of existing ones, these initiatives provide the capital and aid to finance much neededpark renovations, by allowing the transfer of green space management functions to civilian entities.
Copyright Ⓒ 2018 Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

3

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No.36 | April 2018

In return, the civilian entities receive relief from otherwise applicable taxes and regulation.
Another example of the government’s proactive efforts in this area is the Law on Partial
Revisions to the Urban Renaissance Special Measures Law, passed by the House of Representativein April 2018. The revisions allow for the government to coordinate between those with property
rights to underutilized land and those wishing to use it, and enable municipalities to create plansin which the usage rights to multiple properties can be reassigned efficiently without an undue
focus on ownership. The law has also made it possible for local communities and urban
development organizations to work together on the maintenance and management of public spaces
such as squares, parks and community centers.
All of these initiatives seek to combat the negative effects of the “spongification” of urban
areas occurring throughout Japan by empowering local entities to utilize space cooperatively in asustainable manner. This avoids the false dichotomy of government versus the market and can bethought of as a modern attempt at establishing a form of “local commons.” Enabling localities toreclaim the use of moth-eaten urban land dotted with vacant lots to contribute to communal goals
is a perfect example of the application of the concept of the “commons,” to Japan’s present day
problems.
The concept of the “commons” is not meant to reject or replace the notion of ownership,
but to supplement it in conditions like the present when, for example, simply partitioning all lotsof land for private ownership is inadequate. In that sense, there is a certain inevitability to theattention that the concept of the commons is generating in modern Japan, as it addresses one of
the central problems facing the country today.

From things to people: Connecting unspoken knowledge
As the origin of the word "commons" lies in pastures and other shared lands, the term
continues to be associated with physical space today. That said, the possibilities of local commonsare not limited to land usage alone. As shown in Ostrom's research, the concept of the commons is
not limited to physical space but extends to the rules, networks and relationships of trust between
individuals and organizations, which exist within and around these spaces.
In that sense, fully integrating the idea of the “local commons” into modern Japanesesociety will require the creation of new rules, networks, and norms for local communities, and thus
opportunities for building the trust necessary to carry out such reform should not be forgone.
Renegotiating the use of land and public spaces is a grounded medium through which the abstract
concept of strengthening local comradery can be explored and local relationships of trust rebuilt.
This reconstruction and reconstitution of local relationships of trust is at the heart of achieving a
21st century “local commons.”
In looking at the urban development of local communities, there are several importantcommonalities that are often pointed out. Of these, perhaps the most unfortunate is that although
the number of people active and successful in any given local community is not small, these local
success stories and the valuable lessons they hold for other areas, are not always shared outside
Copyright Ⓒ 2018 Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

4

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No.36 | April 2018of the locality in which they originate. This compartmentalization of information and know how
also creates difficulties in the passing of the torch to the next generation, particularly when it
comes to the transfer of "unspoken knowledge" (Polanyi) and "local knowledge" (Geertz), which
are critical to the functioning of local communities. The institutionalization of mechanisms tofacilitate not only the successful transfer of this critical information and knowledge to the next
generation, but also its to ensure that it is shared beyond the boarders of individual local
communities is a subject of the utmost importance to the revitalization of local communities.
Although numerous initiatives to spur regional revitalization and urban renewal havebeen created throughout Japan, the reality is that outside of information gathering tours andpublished profiles, both print and online, of individual areas, the development of a comprehensive
framework for information-sharing between local communities is still basically non-existent.
Details such as the types of initiatives being carried out in each area, the individuals andorganizations responsible, and the financial characteristics of these organizations and initiatives,
are critical for the application of local knowledge beyond the area of origin, yet these details areoften confined to the areas in which they arise. Overcoming these limitations will be of crucial
importance in the coming years, but it will require recognizing that another crucial barrier to thesharing of local knowledge between communities is that there are also many areas in which thesharing of knowledge even within the local community is limited to specific individuals and is notshared as a community resource.
Yoshihiro Maeda, the CEO of Linkers Corporation, a company which provides matching
services (including personnel, materials and corporate introductions) for companies in the
manufacturing sector, has highlighted a similar phenomenon in the work his company does.
According to him, the key to successful matching is creating a "Web x People" platform, in otherwords to, "combine the engine with the network." For the majority of manufacturing companies
however, the sharing of key technical information over the internet carries a risk proportional tothe importance of said information. Furthermore, technical information is often tacit knowledgeof an unspoken nature that is sometimes difficult to fully explain with words alone. This inability
to share critical details on an open platform predictably hinders the personnel matching processes.
According to Linkers, the key to overcoming this dilemma is to focus on people in each area, whom
he calls “coordinators,” that others trust when it comes to the handling of sensitive information,
and who have experience working with the manufacturing sector. It was only by creating a
network of contacts in organizations such as local governments, regional banks, and credit
associations, that the company was able to create a framework for drawing upon the essential
unspoken knowledge they possessed to conduct effective personnel matching.

Copyright Ⓒ 2018 Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

5

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No.36 | April 2018

Figure 1 Network re-wiring

Relationships
with neighbors
Network of
local trust
Long-distance
relationships
Network extending
beyond communities
Local area coordinators(People working at local governments,
local banks, and credit associations)
Network re-wiring for long-distance relationships
using databases and IT technology

Search engine x people

Expanded information
through re-wiring

What this example highlights is the importance of linking local networks of trust with thelogic of a search engine. When used alone, both local relationships of trust and search engines have
limitations as tools for localities. It is only by linking the two together that the true value of theinformation they hold can be aggregated and fully utilized. Achieving a true, 21st century local
commons will require empowering those who can unlock the trust built up around physical places
over time, so that localities can link into the global logistics and information infrastructure to
realize their full potential. In this way, the existing relationships of trust inside local areas can
Copyright Ⓒ 2018 Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

6

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No.36 | April 2018

become interconnected with the outside world, expanding their scope, and accelerating thedevelopment of human-to-human and human-to-information networks.
A core concept in modern networking theory is that of "re-wiring." By connecting thecohesiveness of the neighborhood with the indexability and searchability of modern long distancecommunication technology, the value and efficiency that can be extracted from information isdramatically improved. The “updating of the network,” that this facilitates also results in the
discovery of people who may have gone relatively unnoticed before, enabling them to become“nodes,” who are then able to begin filling important and previously underserved roles (Nishiguchi
2007, Nishiguchi and Tsujida 2017). Linking deep-rooted relationships of trust and the unspoken
knowledge possessed by local communities to the outside world is truly the kind of re-wiring thatmodern society needs.

Conclusion
Looking back at the etymology of the “commons,” the concept initially arose from thetension between the duality of openness and membership. In the shared areas of the past,
although a large number of people went in and out, there was a system of defined rules and mutual
checks among the members. It was this delicate balance between openness and closedness,porousness and regulation, that was the secret to maintaining the commons in the past. Can theconcept of the “local commons” be applied to modern Japan to successfully link the accumulated
knowledge, built up over time on a foundation of trust within local communities, with the vast
resources and openness of the outside world in an appropriate way? Is it possible to create thesystems, rules, networks, and platforms necessary to do so? The key to creating a successful local
commons in 21st century Japan lies within the answer to these questions.

Copyright Ⓒ 2018 Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

7

NIRA OPINION PAPER
No.36 | April 2018

References
Ostrom, Elinor (1990) Governing the Commons, Cambridge University Press.
Gakuto Takamura (2012) "Komonzu kara no Toshi Saisei Chiiki Kyodo Kanri to Ho no Arata na
Yakuwari (Urban Commons and City Revitalization: Community Management of the Commons and
New Functions of the Law )," Minerva Shobo.(in Japanese)
Toshihiro Nishiguchi (2007) "Enkyori Kosai to Kinjozukiai Seiko Suru Soshiki Network Senryaku(Global Neighborhoods: Strategies of Successful Organizational Networks)," NTT Publishing. (inJapanese)
Toshihiro Nishiguchi, Motoko Tsujida (2017) "Community Capital Ron Ohmi Shonin, Unshu
Shonin, Toyota, Choki Hanei no Himitsu (Community Capital Theory, Ohmi Merchants, Wenzhou
Merchants, Toyota, and the Secrets of Long-term Prosperity)," Kobunsha Shinsho. (in Japanese)
Hardin, Garret (1968) “The Tragedy of the Commons”, Science, 13 Dec, 1968, Vol 162, Issue 3859,
pp. 1243-1248.

Shigeki Uno
Executive Vice President, Nippon Institute for Research Advancement; Professor, Instituteof Social Science, The University of Tokyo; Ph.D. in Law and Politics, Graduate School of
Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo; specializations: history of political thought,
political philosophy

Makoto Hayakawa
Professor, Faculty of Law, Rissho University; PhD. in Law and Politics, Graduate School of
Law and Politics, The University of Tokyo; specializations: contemporary political theory

This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese.
NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation presented here.

Copyright Ⓒ 2018 Nippon Institute for Research Advancement8