The role of governmental and community agents in the management of important preservation districts in Japan

Abstract

In 1975, the Japanese government introduced Important Preservation Districts as a new category of cultural properties to preserve, enabling a preservation workflow that requires a balance between the establishment of designation criteria and decision-making by the central government and a legal framework that guarantees strong landowner rights. This paper explores how different local management models sought to establish such a balance, within a context of strong community self-organisation that pre-dates 1975. In addition, this paper aims to explain the role of scholars as independent subsidiary agents for preservation management as well as the outcomes of each management model. It concludes that the management style has evolved from a purely top-down model to one in which there is cooperation between top-down and horizontal structures, in order to respond to an increasingly broader definition of the values that are maintained via town preservation. Such evolution is rooted in the specificities of the Japanese approach to urban preservation, which might contribute to the exploration of new solutions in an international context. Finally, the study highlights areas for future improvement, such as the integration of scholarly knowledge into management practices.