The long-standing approach to public works is now undergoing a major shift. To rebuild postwar Japan from the ashes and propel it into high economic growth, public works projects for various infrastructure developments were indispensable. Even in the future, public works will likely continue as a means to stimulate the economy or as essential projects for various infrastructure improvements. However, we have now reached a point where we must reexamine the very nature of public works

The long-standing approach to public works is now undergoing a major shift. To rebuild postwar Japan from the ashes and propel it into high economic growth, public works projects for various infrastructure developments were indispensable. Even in the future, public works will likely continue as a means to stimulate the economy or as essential projects for various infrastructure improvements. However, we have now reached a point where we must reexamine the very nature of public works
and the specific sectors targeted by them. Traditional public works focused on national social infrastructure development: mountain and river control, road construction, port and fishing harbor development, airport construction, housing initiatives, sewerage and environmental improvements, and agricultural infrastructure development. These projects largely served as the vanguard in destroying the natural environment.
In the 21st century's recycling-oriented society, the volume of such conventional public works projects, which worsen the natural environment, will steadily decline. ... Projects targeted by criticism of wasteful public spending, such as the Yoshino River dam in Tokushima and the Nakaumi reclamation project in Shimane, have been shelved. In the future, a "re-evaluation system" will likely be introduced for other civil engineering public works projects. This system will re-evaluate long-term projects, including the possibility of halting them. What is noteworthy is that environmental consideration is increasingly being added as one of the evaluation criteria for this system. Without needing to look overseas for examples, in Aichi Prefecture, environmental conservation at the Expo site is being examined from various perspectives.
Public works projects are, by definition, undertakings to develop public assets for the future. What will be demanded going forward is project content aligned with a new concept of public assets (environmental assets). ▼Preserving the natural environment is a crucial platform for building a recycling-oriented society. Looking at the shift in thinking from scrap-and-build to rebuild, the partial revision of the River Act, the enforcement of the Environmental Assessment Act, and the revision of ordinances concerning natural environment conservation in various municipalities, it is clear that conventional public works are no longer viable. Conversely, public works that consider the natural environment have a promising future. The preservation of the natural environment is the foundation for developing social infrastructure that will last for generations.