82: Industrial Structure, Aging Rate, and Financial Capabilities Index of Affected Municipalities (grouped by size)

Notes 1. Affected municipalities are entities to which are applied the Disaster Relief Act on the Great East Japan Earthquake in Iwate, Miyagi, Aomori, Ibaragi, Tochigi, and Chiba where aftershocks intermittently occurred after the main shock on March 11, and where many people were harmed or their lives threatened, evacuated, and need constant support and help.

Source: MLIT based on "National Population Census" of Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication

## Building Safe and Secure Towns for the Maintenance and Revitalization of Communities

For reconstruction of the affected towns, it is necessary to promote town building based on the concept that the damage varies from one area to another while safety is secured as much as possible for the areas are threatened with secondary disasters (e.g. aftershocks, another tsunami, and further problems from the nuclear power plant accidents). In the restoration processes of past disasters like the Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, the isolation of victims due to the disintegration of conventional communities was a serious problem. With the areas affected by this disaster, it is necessary to take into consideration that aging has progressed more since the Hanshin-Awaji disaster and to take approaches to maintain and rebuild their communities, avoiding such community disintegration as much as possible.

Above all, it is desired that all policies are driven forward together to promote the building of tsunami-resistant towns based on lessons learned from the massive tsunami. Especially for the areas that suffered great destruction and need new comprehensive town building for their restoration, it is necessary to take special measures regarding land use and restructuring so that existing systems concerning land use (e.g. city planning) will not be great restraints.

It is also necessary to rebuild traffic networks in each area, including the restoration of public transportation to support local residents, as well as to try to restore infrastructures as the foundations for safety and relief as soon as possible.

The first step for victims to get their lives back to normal is to secure permanent residences with the help of provisions for temporary housing, etc. When implementing these projects, it is necessary not only to take care of securing safe living environments depending on the damage conditions in each area, but also to thoughtfully ensure that housing for the elderly are safe.

Knowledge and creativity are required for restoration efforts. Considering the scale of the damage resulting from this disaster and the severe financial condition, approaches and measures of not only public investment but also private investment are being taken, including works in cooperation with the private sector. It will be more necessary to promote PPP (public-private partnership) or PFI (private finance initiative), which utilize private knowledge and funds, over every step of the planning, implementation, and management of long-term town restoration projects. In addition, it is desirable to support activities of various bodies such as local enterprises organizations and NPOs cooperating with municipalities in order to effectively carry out soft policies, organizations and NPOs concerning the maintenance and restoration of communities.