The Struggle between the City and Agricultural Land -- Midori Ward, Yokohama, April 1995

The Struggle between the City and Agricultural Land -- Midori Ward, Yokohama, April 1995
In 1995, Midori Ward, Yokohama City, was engaged in a fierce tug-of-war between urban development and farmland preservation. After a period of rapid economic growth, demand for housing in the Tokyo metropolitan area increased, and Midori Ward was no exception. In particular, as railroads were extended and highways were built, farmlands were transformed into residential areas one after another. However, the local farmers, who had originally farmed the land for generations, were faced with the challenges of inheritance taxes and aging farmers, in addition to the pressures of development. In order to balance the preservation and effective use of farmland, the city launched an urban agriculture promotion plan and introduced citizen farms and a green space preservation system, but there were many difficulties in coordinating interests with developers and administering the system. At the same time, there was a movement among urban residents to preserve "familiar agricultural landsc
apes," and in conjunction with the growing awareness of environmental protection and food safety, there was a momentum to re-evaluate farmland as a part of urban life. This movement was not merely a question of land use, but also an opportunity to reexamine the relationship between the city and agriculture, and "urban development with agriculture" in Midori-ku became a model case that attracted the attention of local governments nationwide. The question of how to protect local nature and livelihoods in the face of the waves of urbanization continues to be asked in Midori-ku to this day.