# Promoting Regional Revitalization

## Section 1 Approaches to Regional Revitalization

The government recognizes regional revitalization as a key issue and pursues a policy of achieving regional revitalization from cross-ministerial and cross-measure perspectives under a scheme of integrated governance (Integrated Headquarters for Regional Revitalization).

As part of this policy, an international conference on the “FutureCity” initiative was held in Tokyo in February 2012. The initiative was globally promoted at the meeting of Rio+20 $ ^{Note} $ held in June of the same year.

According to the comprehensive special zone program, 44 special zones have been specified and deliberations on exceptions to the governing regulations to help these special zones fulfill their own endeavors are in progress. With the special zone for structural reform program, exceptions to the regulations, such as simplifying the procedural flow of seeking permissions relevant to small hydropower generation under the “Rivers Act,” have been introduced to suit regional characteristics. Further, a special zone renovation system has been inaugurated to help resolve key issues of common concern to the different parts of the nation, such as responding to an aging population with falling birthrates. The selection of additional “Environmental Model Cities” has also been commenced to proceed with the goal of low-carbon city development.

Because more of the local residents’ voices need to be heeded in promoting the endeavors for regional revitalization, the governmental system of consultation has been molded into a one-stop sequence to follow up the endeavors for regional renovation in a fully integrated flow for each regional block.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism promotes the implementation of comprehensive and strategic transport policies, such as revitalizing and renovating the means of regional public transport, such as local railways, buses and sea routes to remote islands and improving on transport nodes, supports original and ingenious local endeavors, such as revitalizing central urban areas, renovating cities, migrating to an intensive urban structure and promoting tourism and encourages construction industries by promoting contracting at fair prices and supporting the growth of integrated regional industries with a view to realizing a regional economic society offering the ease of living with buoyancy and vitality.

For regions or elsewhere where the population is rapidly shrinking or aged, the Ministry works to help develop a community in which living is made easy from the local residents' standpoints, by supporting the work of community development activities undertaken by various entities, including NPOs, securing the availability of vital day-to-day living services, such as medical care and shopping, by revitalizing the village functions and consolidating the means of daily regional transport by supporting the introduction of community bus services.

Regarding the issues of urban reconstruction, the MLIT pursues to:

① Promote urban reconstruction projects, as by developing international airports and disaster prevention centers;

② Promote urban development by private sectors pursuant to the “Act on Special Measures concerning Urban Reconstruction”; and

③ Promote nationwide urban reconstruction based on the urban reconstruction and development plans, etc. prepared by municipalities.

The “Act on Special Measures concerning Urban Reconstruction” was amended in April 2012 to launch a system of urban reconstruction safety assurance planning in April 2012 and the “Basic Policy for Urban Reconstruction” was revised in August of the same year, both to assure safety in times of large-scale earthquakes.