Sustainable Communities in Hilly, Mountainous and Heavy Snowfall Areas
Japan has large hilly and mountainous areas with heavy snowfall. Because of severe population decrease arising from the aging society, many communities in such areas have become quite vulnerable to natural disasters. In addition, public help in disaster r
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Sustainable Communities in Hilly, Mountainous and Heavy Snowfall Areas Asako Yuhara and Kyung-rock Ye
Abstract Japan has large hilly and mountainous areas with heavy snowfall. Because of severe population decrease arising from the aging society, many communities in such areas have become quite vulnerable to natural disasters. In addition, public help in disaster reduction has been weakened because of difficulties in public finance. In order to consider sustainable communities in these circumstances, it is necessary to examine the power of both mutual and self-help. In this study, we examine some approaches to coping with severe snow disasters in several communities in hilly, mountainous, and heavy snowfall areas. First, problems arising from winter are considered through information from researching more than 300 local governments in heavy snowfall areas in Japan. Second, the outcomes of case studies in Semboku City in Akita Prefecture in northern Japan are discussed. The results show the importance of residents’ associations and such local groups. In addition, by enhancing communication among the communities, these kinds of workshops are important for strengthening the power of mutual support. Keywords Sustainable community • Hills • Mountains • Heavy snowfall area • Snow disaster • Mutual help • Self-help
A. Yuhara (*) National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management, 1 Asahi, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0804, Japan e-mail: [email protected] K.-r. Ye Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo District, Tokyo, Japan e-mail: [email protected] M. Kawakami et al. (eds.), Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development: Approaches 431 for Achieving Sustainable Urban Form in Asian Cities, Strategies for Sustainability, DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-5922-0_24, # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
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A. Yuhara and K.-r. Ye
Introduction
Japan has large hilly and mountainous areas with heavy snowfall (Shimizu and Abe 2001). The government specifies some places as “heavy snowfall areas” and “special heavy snowfall areas” by measuring several conditions, such as snow depth, under the Act on Special Measures Concerning Heavy Snowfall Areas, aiming to support the development of these areas. Although “heavy snowfall areas,” including “special heavy snowfall areas,” occupy approximately 50% of the country, only 16% of the population lives there. Population in these areas is declining: whereas total population in Japan increased 9% from 1985 to 2005, the population in heavy snowfall areas decreased 4%. Furthermore, in 2000 the Population Census showed that the share of population aged 65 and over in heavy snowfall areas was already 20%, while that of the total population was 17% (Ministry of Land Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) 2010). Because of steady population decline in the aging society, many local communities in such areas have become quite vulnerable to heavy snowfall disasters. Kuriyama (1986) found that the elderly occupied high percentage of f
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