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 facing a prolonged recession and industrial hollowing out following the collapse of the bubble economy, and there was a growing movement to redesign the competitiveness of each region. Special Zones for Structural Reform were attracting attention as a system for regional revitalization through deregulation, and the waterfront area of Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture, was conceived as a "special zone for environmental symbiosis and creativity. The idea was to give a new role to the region by utilizing underutilized land adjacent to the port and promoting the concentration of environmental industries and research institutes.

Specifically, the government lowered barriers to investment and location by relaxing regulations on green space for factory sites, simplifying procedures for changing the use of reclaimed land in public waters, and introducing special exceptions to regulations regarding land use and waste disposal in port areas. This was intended to create an "ecological complex" where manufacturing, processing, and research function in close proximity, and to revitalize the waterfront area as a center for the practice of a recycling-oriented society.

At the time, the Sakai Bay area was in the midst of a period of renewal for the coastal industrial zone that was created during the high-growth period, and reorganization was required. The special zone concept was not simply an extension of the industrial port, but was unique in that it integrated research (R), production (P), and resource circulation (C) and presented a new regional model that integrated the environment and industry. The Sakai City waterfront area's efforts were an experimental strategy drawn up ahead of time, before low-carbonization and resource recycling were in full swing, and it attracted nationwide attention.