# Creating a Comfortable Living Space

Section 1 Realizing Affluent Residential Living

## Securing Stability of Residential Living and Advancing its Betterment

In accordance with the new release of the Housing Life Master Plan approved at the March 2011 Cabinet meeting, covering FY2011 to FY2020, to reflect the full-scale emergence of an aging society with falling birth-rates, declining population and families, changes in the socio-economic climate such as difficult employment and income environment, needs for housing life support services and more, the MLIT is advancing the implementation of measures aimed at securing the stability of residential living and its betterment with the following goals: a. Building a living environment that supports safe, secure and affluent residential living; b. Proper management and revitalization of housing; c. Preparing the environment for a housing market in which diverse housing needs are properly fulfilled; and d. Assuring the stability of housing for those who require special housing consideration.

## (1) Building a living environment in support of safe, secure and affluent residential living

To create safe, secure housing and residential environments, we are advancing earthquake-resistant construction of houses and buildings to better prepared for large-scale earthquakes, while at the same time promoting “Smart Wellness Residences and Cities,” where different types of residences—such as households with elderly people, households with disabled people, or households raising children—can interact to create places to live that are safe and healthy. It also encourages the construction of housing with better energy-saving performance, utilization of local wood, etc. to get closer to the goal of realizing a low-carbon society.

The MLIT is also keen to preserve and form townscape and scenic beauty to add to the comfort and affluence of residential life, while enhancing the convenience of houses for people like the elderly living in urban areas, based on the concept of universal designs.

## (2) Proper management and revitalization of housing

While apartment buildings have become a vital mode of housing for the nation as we reached a stock of about 5.90 million apartments (at the end of 2012), we are urged to respond to a variety of tasks involved in advancing the proper management and revitalization of these buildings.

To advance appropriate maintenance, management and renewal, we are implementing the “Apartment Building Maintenance Optimization and Renewal Advancement Project,” which aims to optimize the maintenance and advance the renewal of aging apartments buildings—the number of which is expected to increase in the near future—by accumulating success stories of forming consensus to address the challenges regarding apartment buildings.

In addition, to advance the construction of earthquake-resistant structures for apartment buildings, the “Law on Promotion of Renovation for Earthquake-Resistant Structures,” was revised to mitigate the resolution requirements necessary for trying to implement large-scale earthquake-resistant structures for apartment buildings that have been certified as needing earthquake-resistant structures. Furthermore, to make the renewal of aging apartment buildings easier, the “Act on Facilitation of Reconstruction of Apartment Buildings”—regarding the creation of a system for the sale of apartment building sites—was just recently established in June 2014.