Self-Assessed Positive Impacts of Area Management Organizations in Japan

Abstract

Japan is currently faced with an acute “aging society” coupled with a low birth rate, which is causing numerous social problems, such as weakened local and urban communities and unattractive landscapes and environments. Depressed towns are also hindering disaster prevention. However, local governments have made little attempt to address this situation. Therefore, there is a need to shed light on revitalizing both “software activities”, such as holding events and festivals, as well as “hardware activities”, such as building new facilities and providing new infrastructure. In this respect, the so-called “area management activities” (AMAs) play a significant role in the revitalization process. AMAs are used to revitalize towns and cities mainly by utilizing the power of the private sector in conjunction with the government. This paper conducts several empirical tests on factors associated with the (self-assessed) positive impacts of “area management organizations” (AMOs) on the revitalization of towns, relying on data sets from 1,300 areas (in almost 750 municipalities) in which revitalization programs such as the Act on Special Measures Concerning Urban Renaissance by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism have been implemented since 2002.