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  • Essay / Machizukuri's concept and evolution from social movement to "soft infrastructure" at the city level

    Table of contentsDisaster profileInvolved actor and civil society engagementProcess and innovationAging problemFinancial constraintsLack of budgetThe decline of local economy and the shrinking of local purchases ArcadeMachizukuri's loss of motivation from local residentsCommunication and coordinationWhat has changed since the Kobe earthquake?Remaining limitationsPossible improvements/opportunities and future engagement.Commitments of Civil society are important in urban planning because their role is to understand and fill the gap of societal needs. Since the aim of urban or urban planning is to ensure the sustainability of society, the idea of ​​a participatory approach could address the challenge of what should be provided and how. Community activities are deeply rooted in the social commitments of culture and tradition, which allows them to deliberately express their needs and preferences at the societal level. Their activities reflect their ability to understand their problems and, through their experience, certain ideas are discussed and found to provide solutions. Therefore, this experience is also reflected and applied in disaster management in which disaster victims raise their awareness to participate in land reconstruction. The abandonment of community involvement in this case appears to increase vulnerability. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essay The concept of community planning has been ingrained in Japanese society since post-World War II. After the war, the country's move to restore its dignity massively transformed a devastated country into one full of hope through rapid and intensive development. Industries in urban areas made most of the city more polluted where they lived as well. The impacts on society have resulted in societal commitments and movements to express their environmental and health concerns. Thus, the community organization was created or called “Machizukuri”. As a result of the situation, machizukuri became the most influential actor, especially in urban planning, their goal being to prevent unwanted changes and promote desired changes. Later, the power of civil society in terms of machizukuri played an important role in disaster management. In this article, the concept and evolution of machizukuri from social movement to city-level "soft infrastructure" to meet and sustain community needs in the post-war era. the disaster phase are discussed. First, the introduction or background of the creation of machizukuri as a community protest movement due to the massive impacts of industrial activities. In the second section, a case study of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in Kobe in 1995 is chosen to examine the role and process of machizukuri in disaster management in the context of urban renewal and land redevelopment. Then, the challenges of machizukuri in the urban planning process are presented, which draw lessons learned from community activities in participatory planning, especially in disaster relief and reduction. The lesson about machizukuri success in identifying their problems and needs leads to deliberation of collective actions that become experiences for other communities.regions during the disaster that followed the Kobe earthquake. This application is presented to see what changes and remaining limitations are within the activities and processes of machizukuri dealing with their disaster risk reduction innovation. Ultimately, possible improvements or opportunities are proposed to establish a sustainable mechanism for civil society engagement in disaster management. In order to identify the role and lessons learned from community activities to build a sustainable mechanism in disaster risk management, the Japanese concept of machizukuri is explored vividly. The characteristic of civil society in Japanese culture emphasizes strong emotional ties at the community or neighborhood level, which result in strong social networks. The form of community activities mainly consists of actions of different actors who shared interests by voluntarily expressing their idea by any means or resources with a range of time, skills and not less with their capital resources. Many of them work in diverse professions, ranging from ordinary civil society to businessman and expert. Although a divide can be achieved, the connection and emotion rooted between them can reduce and even diminish the barrier in which their common goals are considered the most important to achieve. Machizukuri is not a new concept, which in the 1970s was heavily promoted as a new approach as a key player in dealing with the problems of the industrial age in Kobe. The arrival of groups of residents to carry out their collective actions ultimately requires a legitimate organization that organizes their aspirations. In 1978, the establishment of the machizukuri council in Mano district was seen as a way to stave off population decline by attracting young families to live there. Working with municipal governments, they developed the ideas and practices in more subtle ways in existing developed regions. This follows with the development of the area into an integrated settlement with other public amenities that support the livelihood of the community. Subsequently, grassroots innovation from civil society was used to shape community livelihoods under disaster risk management. , this helps relieve the disease. The process of civil society in post-disaster land reconstruction began with the devastating earthquake that struck Kobe in 1995. Disaster Profile On January 17, 1995, a devastating earthquake with a seismic magnitude of 7 .3 hit the city of Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. The Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake occurred in the city of Kobe, built on a narrow coastal plain 2 to 3 km wide, surrounded by the Rokko Mountains and Osaka Bay. As a result, there were 6,000 casualties and more than 30,000 injured. It also demolished more than 200,000 buildings and damaged around 180,000 buildings, followed by fire. As a result, around 300,000 people were left homeless and economic losses are estimated at around $200 billion. The characteristics of a disaster increased the intensity of impacts. The peak of the earthquake's vertical motion exceeded the horizontal acceleration, resulting in the expulsion of the liquefied layer on Port Island, one of the reclamation islands located at the edge of Port Bay. Osaka. Noda Hokubu and Matsumoto districts in western Kobe's Nagata ward were the places most affected by the fires. This was due to poorquality of the houses, illustrated by many old wooden houses with narrow streets which started and worsened the fires immediately after the earthquake. It therefore prevented firefighters from accessing the affected areas, where many modern buildings with concrete columns also collapsed in the narrow streets. The earthquake also damaged several essential infrastructure networks. According to the 2012 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake Recovery Statistics and Progress Report, traffic networks were also disrupted by the collapse of Routes 3 (Kobe Road) and 5 (Wangan Road). ) from Hanshin Expressway to the road below. Railways or high-speed trains were also damaged. Healey (2009) argued that this resulted from the neglect of inner-city development while major development was concentrated on reclaimed land in the coastal zone. However, reclamation lands were also affected by the combination of vertical and horizontal seismic movements. Liquefaction occurred in the reclamation layer of 2 to 4 sections of the eastern areas of Port Island. Overall, the high intensity of the Kobe earthquake contributed to the magnitude of the damage, which raised awareness among civil society to take collective action. Here, community engagement has become a departure from the old machizukuri concept that focused on post-World War II environmental issues of disaster reduction in line with participation in urban planning. Actors involved and civil society engagement In the context of disaster management, revival or saikaihatsu and urban readjustment or kukakuseiri during the major Kobe Prefecture earthquake in 1995 were initially dominated by a top-down approach focused on on the physical structure and overall layout. However, later in the execution process, some shortcomings were noted, which led to community movements as a bottom-up approach to balance urban planning. Therefore, in this case, three key actors played a central role in both saikaihatsu and kukakuseiri, namely municipal administrations, civil society and consultants or specialists. Importantly, the share of civil society engagement contributed to the outcomes of urban planning in disaster risk management. The rapid and large-scale reconstruction of land in Kobe after the disaster shows the role of the municipal administration in using decentralization as a means to endorse “building back better” in disaster management in their territory. One of the quick measures taken by the local government was to create structures responsible for land reconstruction. Soon after the earthquake, they issued some policies in the saikaihatsu and kukakuseiri for the promotion areas to get decentralization recognized as their long-term planning Hein (2002). In addition, the local government issued a policy of construction restrictions for six areas on February 1, followed by a law on special measures for the reconstruction of destroyed areas on February 26. However, the concept of decentralization in disaster risk management cannot be neglected. other stakeholders such as civil society and experts as they balance the needs of what should be built and how to build to achieve a sustainable post-disaster neighborhood. As a result, the reconstruction promotion zone south of Kobe encountered opposition fromcitizens because the location was far from their original neighborhood and they had also not been informed of the plan. The role of civil society in post-disaster urban planning, illustrated by -The strong Japanese emotional relationship includes the design or plan in which many groups of various social statuses participate. The company's involvement in machizukuri increased significantly, reaching 100 groups, especially after the Kobe earthquake destroyed their towns and neighborhoods. Most groups were made up of local property and landowners and residents with small businesses and focused on areas of redevelopment or urban readjustment. These machizukuri organizations were licensed under the Kobe City Machizukuri Ordinance, established by the city government in 1982, long before the disaster occurred. Kobayashi (2007) summarized that residents could play an important role because they were accustomed to the urban planning process, but a network of supporters existed. Process and Innovation The concept of Machizukuri becomes an excellent example of civil society participation in urban planning, especially post-disaster urban redevelopment planning. Their role encompassed their shared values ​​and ways of life, presented constructively through regular meetings and consultations between community members and local planners or specialist groups. The Machizukuri process in post-disaster urban planning found resonance and advocacy in the interim of the Great Hiashin Earthquake in Kobe, but has been called into question. The machizukuri process of gaining recognition and authorization in post-disaster land reconstruction was not only started with fine grained movements but also pressures. The initial absence of local machizukuri in the redevelopment of land in the southern area of ​​Rokko-michi Station, one of the most affected areas, led the social movement to file a lawsuit against the city's Planning Bureau. Local residents relocated at that time were shocked by the administration's initial plan seen as detrimental to their social cultural life. As a result, a revised plan of the original plan for the redevelopment of high-rise apartment buildings with a large park was adopted with specific conditions. As a prerequisite, this required the establishment of the Machizukuri Council to meet the aspirations of the community. Later, the council became an embryo of a legitimized participatory planning approach. This became a basis for expansion and rapprochement between local machizukuri and city officials in the reconstruction plan. It aimed to improve the quality of life by working with local government more fluidly within a technocratic bureaucracy imposed from above, but temporarily in an impasse. In the southern area of ​​Rokko-michi Station, the proposal to reserve small parks for local residents was barely adopted because it reduced the area-to-site ratio for high-rise buildings and hampered the 75 percent central subsidy . However, the machizukuri council has shown its essential role in supporting networks for community development through effective communication and organizing activities. In another case, that of Mano district, local residents, traders and local businesses were also involved in the revision of the district plan. The presence of support networks has also been considered one of the factors contributing to the local Machizukuri process of transmittingits innovations or ideas thanks to intense assistance. Partnerships with other groups and cities led to the creation of social activities. Planners, architects, university researchers and other specialists acted as a bridge between the machizukuri to work on an agreement with the local government with better understanding and as a catalyst to produce good reconstruction plan material. The specialists assisted from the creation of the basic plan to the implementation of the land redevelopment, redevelopment and revitalization project. This enabled their proposal to rebuild housing under cooperative reconstruction with improved urban design and environment, provide more cooperative housing for low-income residents, and retain small parks around the neighborhood for interaction social. Therefore, some improvements have been made to urban areas. design to maintain residents' characteristics and to realize the desired future neighborhood as a disaster relief. In the Noda Hokubu district, the community was ready to reconcile with urban planning by giving up a small part of their land 50 cm setback and 5 m widening from the street, which can still constitute a public intermediate space -private allowing residents to socialize. Some urban elements were installed in public spaces which also functioned as security elements, such as small parks scattered around the neighborhood, a small winding stream along the main road to increase the quality of life and eco- neighborhood in Matsumoto District and an integrated community center in Rokko Park. However, machizukuri's process in presenting their ideas as an innovation in the post-earthquake reconstruction plan apparently contributed at a different pace, although the final plan ultimately justified their proposal. The contribution of machizukuri in Mano District has been gradual and slow in order to increase the environment and health of the neighborhood by attracting newcomers facing the problem of population decline in the area. In comparison, the process in the southern area of ​​Rokko-michi Station was more radical, as evacuated residents wanted to return to their closed-looking community before the earthquake destroyed their neighborhood. It shows that the urban regime, in terms of the role of Machizukuri in the post-disaster reconstruction plan, can offer a different approach depending on the characteristics of the residents, the neighborhood and the leadership style itself. Ultimately, long-term planning following the disaster was driven by the government in terms of infrastructure and modernization. The Machizukuri group does not have enough legitimacy and power to engage local governments in planning development. It should be difficult to explain, from the point of view of the state under construction, the main reason why civil society groups came to power at the beginning of their rule, because of the objective of obtaining the support from residents. Thus, from another point of view, other political and economic actors need to obtain particular incentives to maintain their priorities during urban management. However, as a social organization, the Machizukuri group has the advantages of acquiring resources and supporting mobilization based on their specific professionalization. But on the contrary, this also means that social disorganization could be generated, due to the lack of community organizations, which could prevent individuals from taking collective action. Even the collapsesudden government movement can provide a sense of community with social connections and networks. As a result, the Machizukuri Group cannot maintain sufficient efforts to address the development of sustainable mechanisms for civil society-led innovation. During the Kobe earthquake, the city administration's "toshikekaku" planning was very rapid in response to the disaster, as major post-disaster reconnection decisions and actions were taken quickly within a few weeks. At the same time, Machizukuri residents mobilized at a very slow pace, which could take months (Bosman, 2007). Therefore, in order to establish an institutional arrangement to cooperate particularly with local government institutions, the urban renewal activity would be relatively difficult for the Machizukuri group due to this institutional constraint. Aging problem Moreover, Kobe's population decline is one of the most difficult problems currently facing the region, which could also become one of the key challenges for the development of sustainable mechanisms for innovation driven by civil society in Japan. To explain, the concept of Machizukuri is a concept focused on neighborhood building in Japan, which requires the support and participation of local residents. However, due to the shrinking local population, it would be difficult to attract young families. the Machizukuri group. Therefore, the process and innovation would be difficult to implement smoothly, due to the lack of technological sense and acceptance among older generations. For example, urban redevelopment and urban readjustments in Kobe must meet the needs of local residents, including the Machizukuri group. As the share of older generations increases in Japan, new technologies and innovation implemented in urban planning will be difficult for local residents to get used to, which could create more obstacles for target residents and guarantee a sustainable and pleasant life. . Therefore, considering the aging problem, urban renewal activity would also be a challenge for the Machizukuri group within civil society. Financial Constraints Lack of budget First, given limited government and public sector investments, Machizukuri's credibility would be reduced. To explain, apart from traditional urban planning such as road and traffic development, Machizukuri also contains elements of habitable and sustainable achievements. To achieve this goal, normal financial budgets cannot meet the expectations of Machizukuri city planning, because sustainable city planning would cost more than normal infrastructure development, due to the use of renewed resources and materials and recyclable. urban renewal expenditure, local governments would have limited financial resources to support this urban development activity, thus leading to urban innovation that is difficult to achieve.transformed.The decline of the local economy and the shrinking of local shopping mallsIn addition, the Decline of the local economy can be another challenge of urban renewal activity. In detail, the decline of “screamenngai” in Kobe is becoming critical, due to the massive influx of populations towards Tokyo and Osaka. Due to the reduction in local business activities, the local economy is in decline, which may lead to a decrease in revenue for local businesses in the area. Therefore, the shrinking economy will result in fewer financial resources forlocal governments to establish the Machizukuri Group to ensure urban renewal. Additionally, due to the limited financial resources possessed by each household, the base will be difficult to effectively establish and operate. Thus, this problem could result in a lack of local culture. As the Machizukuri Group relies heavily on the sustainable cultivation of the small urban region by its residents, less successful grassroots management would reduce the effectiveness of urban renewal. Therefore, considering the government's limited findings and the potentials related to the lack of regional cultures, the Machizukuri Group will face enormous challenges during the development of urban renewal. Machizukuri's loss of motivation from local residents. Finally, Machizukuri is not only about urban planning in construction. On the contrary, it is also closely linked to the intangible aspects of urban development, which go beyond the simple development of physical infrastructure. In other words, the successful development of Machizukuri also requires responding to local residents' continuing motivations and interests in urban renewal, which requires their passion for volunteer activities and monetary donations. the particular area should involve the emotions and appreciations of local residents during the process, which supports the activity of defining the characteristics of the Machizukuri group. Therefore, we conclude that not only physical financial constraint but also soft financial constraint exist during the urban renewal innovation process. Communication and Coordination This section will discuss communication and coordination challenges by examining community experience, integrated approach, community network and urban design. Experience is considered an important aspect of disaster risk reduction. Previous experience in the Mano community, Kobe, facing pollution problems, makes them more recognized in the machizukuri council. Meanwhile, the less experienced community is not recognized as having a good perception of urban planning. Therefore, flexibility and reliability are essential in machizukuri practice. Additionally, neighborhood or local community initiatives do not always lead to more integrated approaches within local administration or government, as some of them may be ignored. The balance of respect and responsibility between the community and government must be maintained. Otherwise, the community may seek another way to improve the quality of life of its local environment through the courts or informal mechanisms. Therefore, it is essential to maintain good communication and coordination in a community. As for the availability of the community network, it also plays an essential role in communication and coordination. Thanks to machizukuri activity, most residents knew where to seek advice or immediate help in case of disaster compared to another area that did not incorporate machizukuri activity. Furthermore, the lesson from the Mano community also reinforces the importance of an active civil society. There is evidence that using democratic, bottom-up and collective knowledge-based approaches could increase social cohesion, response and networking through good communication. If the community network is not well established, it can hinder disaster mitigation. It is therefore essential to promote the integration of a machizukuri type approach in the neighborhood to reduce the risk of disaster. The community where they have wide streets and aDivided neighborhood can lead to limited communication in the event of a disaster. Related to these problems, Mamula-seadon, Kobayashi and Maki (2015) mention some cases of machizukuri which, to recreate the lifestyle where neighbors met easily, citizens propose small parks scattered throughout the neighborhood rather than large ones. unique parks. This case reinforces the potential of an interconnected society where a neighbor could meet quickly in parks and improves social cohesion, very important in times of disaster. What has changed since the Kobe earthquake? In the case of the Great East Japan earthquake, the top-down approach was still dominant, but here the role of local government was sought to understand and strongly adhere to community involvement in disaster relief. of disaster. This is why the local government signed an agreement with universities as facilitators to the community. The application of Machizukuri after the Kobe earthquake became a model of the importance of civil society in post-disaster relief, which made the scholar notice the urgency of creating machizukuri. Here, Machizukuri's process is quite different from Kobe's case. This differs from the initiation and role of the community at certain stages of the disaster. The establishment of Machizukuri after the Tohoku earthquake highlights the state of minimal machizukuri that existed before the earthquake, prompting the formation of more community-led activities specifically within the machizukuri of recovery. Koizumi and Tsuji (2018) explained that the initiation of establishing active community groups was formed by local municipalities, highlighting the essence of Machizukuri Collaboration Center for funds, group activities, capacity building through seminars and the loan of meeting rooms. In another city, academic stakeholders, the University of Tokyo and the University of Iwate Prefecture, have also proposed the creation of machizukuri. The process shows that the concept of machizukuri was highly valued, particularly in disaster risk management, where the community is at the center of the receiver of impact and beneficiary of recovery. It should also be noted that the role of machizukuri can contribute at different levels or stages of the disaster. risk management. The Great East Japan Earthquake generated deep community participation and proved useful in disaster relief in terms of providing temporary housing. In Otsuchi City, it focused on the housing plan, individual housing layout, housing location, and integration with other facilities for a sustainable community (Koizumi and Tsuji 2018). It includes some features that have narrowed the gap. A wooden deck was used to create a valley in which the community had social interaction. This alley was connected to the support center which provided community care services and was integrated with the shops and offices of Heita Park. The general activities of this community organization have been continued and considered "recovery machizukuri" since the Tohoku disaster. Machizukuri activities were not stopped, even more actively in the post-reconstruction period. Since 2012, community support funds from the national government have increased and provided assistance in 2013 for the new Tohoku Main Model Project. Some support networks for community activities have been applied regarding machizukuri funds and the new collaboration mechanism for,.