Citizens' Proposed" Urbanization Plan for the Environment and Landscape of Lake Biwa -October 1996, Omihachiman City, Shiga Prefecture-.
In the mid-1990s, Japan was in the midst of social restructuring following the collapse of the bubble economy, and the philosophy of "sustainable development" triggered by the Earth Summit (1992) was beginning to permeate local governments. In Omi Hachiman City, Shiga Prefecture, citizen-proposed urban planning was attempted as part of the "Environmental Conservation Urbanization Model Project" of the Environment Agency and the Ministry of Construction. Against the backdrop of Lake Biwa's deteriorating water quality and history of nature destruction, the administration, citizens, and experts collaborated to discuss the image of a city that coexists in harmony with nature. Based on the premise of preserving farmland, wetlands, and ecosystems, street design and housing development were conceived with residents' opinions in mind. The attempt to make the residents themselves the main actors in environmental conservation through the creation of citizen workshops and "friendship gr
oups" was advanced at the time, and can be considered a precedent that would later lead to biodiversity policies. It is regarded as the germ of local environmental democracy in that it introduced democratic procedures into urban planning.
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