paper regarding public facilities, and are putting things in action.

(Example of Setting a Reduction Target for a Public Facility and Working on Promoting Understanding of Residents)

One of the local governments that are proactively working on a public facility’s problem with upgrading is Hadano City, Kanagawa.

Hadano City (population 169,326 as of January 2014) is located in the western part of mid-Kanagawa, and as the commuter town of the metropolitan area, there was a rapid population growth during the period of high economic growth. The many public facilities that were developed during this time will all age at the same time in the near future.

According to the calculations of Hadano City, the cost of things like upgrading of buildings would amount to a total of JPY7.58 billion by the year 2050, even if they were to shrink the size of schools to match the decline in the number of children. If they try to issue bonds to make up for any deficiency, the municipal bond balance would double from the current amount, bringing the city close to financial collapse.

In order to deal with these upgrading problems for public facilities, in April 2008 Hadano City created the ‘Public Facilities Relocation Planner,’ an organization dedicated to relocating public facilities, to conduct drastic review on the roles of public facilities across all departments.

Once the dedicated organization was set up, the first thing they did was to compile a ‘Public Facilities White Pater.’ The aim of this white paper was to share information with the residents, and cultivate a common awareness in the administrative offices. The paper not only included the research, analysis results, and evaluation of the current condition of the city’s public facilities—divided into three perspectives of ‘Stock,’ ‘Cost,’ and ‘Service’—it also clarified the challenges facing the management and operation of these facilities. The paper was prepared internally, by the city officials themselves, rather than being outsourced.

After the Public Facilities White Paper was published in October 2009, the city established the “Policy regarding Relocation of Public Facilities”(plans for 2011 - 2050) in October 2010. Based on this policy, in March 2011 they

created the “1st Basic Plan for Public Facilities Relocation Project” (plans for 2011 – 2020), and the “Previous Fiscal Year Implementation Plan” (plans for 2011 – 2015), and have been moving forward with the plans since FY2011.

The Previous Fiscal Year Implementation Plan hopes to appeal to the citizens that the initiatives to relocate the public facilities will not result in the categorical decrease of service standards, but rather allow for higher levels of service to be provided with a smaller tax load. The initiatives are divided into four symbol businesses (Figure 2-3-19).

Figure 2-3-19 Symbol projects overview

Symbol project 1	Symbol project 2	Symbol project 3	Symbol project 4
Composite compound of compulsory education facilities and local facilities	Use of public institutions' network	Release and transfer small-scale local facilities	Service enhancement through citizens' cooperation
Combining the middle school gymnasium and neighboring community center into a composite compound with the help and wisdom of the citizens, to promote the efficient use of floor space, while expanding service	Move the post office into the child care and welfare center, and outsource certificate issuing work	Transfer small-scale local facilities like children's houses and rest homes for the elderly to the region, while asking that their hall is opened to things like club activities, so that the functions of public facilities can be supplemented in a more familiar place	Privatize facilities for the mentally disabled and some kindergartens, to expand services with minimum investment

Source) Developed by MLIT from Hadano City documents

Hadano City plans to create further plans and put those to action, depending on the results of the Previous Fiscal Year Implementation Plan. Their goal is to reduce the amount of secondary public facilities by 31.3% by the year 2050.