A Blueprint for Environmental Symbiosis in Sakai's Waterfront Area: Perspectives from Around 2002

A Blueprint for Environmental Symbiosis in Sakai's Waterfront Area: Perspectives from Around 2002

Around 2002, Japan was in the process of redesigning its regional competitiveness against a backdrop of prolonged stagnation and a sense of crisis over the hollowing out of industry following the collapse of the bubble economy. Discussions about special zones for structural reform, which would implement deregulation on the "surface," became more active, and regional models that would balance the environment and industry were being created in various regions. The material in this issue (Vol. 98, September 20, 2002) also strongly conveys this atmosphere.

The "Special Zone for Environmental Symbiosis and Creation" in the waterfront area of Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, was conceived as a plan to attract and cluster environmentally friendly research institutes and related industries, starting from a low-utilized site adjacent to a port. Specific measures included the easing of the ratio between the area of production facilities and the area of green space on factory sites, the simplification of procedures for changing the use of reclaimed land in public waters, and the introduction of special exceptions to regulations regarding land use and waste disposal in port areas, among other "lowering of barriers. The aim was to create an "ecological complex" where manufacturing, processing, and research are located in close proximity, and to establish a virtuous cycle of venous logistics, environmental technology, and research and development in Sakai's waterfront area.

At the time, the Sakai Bay area was in the process of renewal of the coastal industrial zone created during the high-growth period, and the challenge was how to create an environmentally conscious metabolism while taking advantage of the port functions and large site. The special zone was designed to reduce the initial friction of the location and lower the hurdles for investment decisions by bundling "minor modifications" to site regulations, use regulations, and facility regulations. As a result, it is not an extension of the conventional "industrial port," but rather a "next-generation coastal center" that integrates research (R), production (P), and resource circulation (C), and adds a layer of environmental symbiosis to the industrial map of the Kansai region. --Such a vision can be clearly read here.

In short, the Sakai special zone was not simply a proposal to "loosen regulations and companies will come," but rather a proposal to transform the waterfront area into a site for implementing environmental technology, and to create a "place" where research, industry, and circulation would be re-located in close proximity. This blueprint, presented at a turning point in 2002, was an experimental regional strategy that anticipated later trends toward low carbon and resource recycling.