Japan's Experience in Urban Environmental Management

ESTABLISHED IN 1990, the Metropolitan Environmental Improvement Program (MEIP) aims to assist Asian urban areas tackle their rapidly growing environmental problems in an integrated and cross-sectoral fashion. This study describes Japan’s experience in handling urban environmental issues and offers an overview based on three case studies (published in a companion volume). Chapter one gives some geographical and historical background to Japan’s urban development and industrial growth. The sheer scale and rapidity of the economic expansion had serious implications for the environment. The chapter goes into some detail regarding environmental health problems associated with industrial development. Chapter two looks at more recent environmental development trends. National government had traditionally been reluctant to deal with pollution control, leaving it to local governments but, after a spate of pollution litigation in the 1970s, environmental policy has been geared towards preventive measures. Air and water quality and noise control all became subject to legislation, and solid waste control has become ever more stringent as municipalities have sought to cost it effectively. The discussion is backed up by comprehensive statistical evidence. The third chapter discusses the institutional responsibilities and procedures pertaining to environmental management in Japan. The Japan Environment Agency, incorporated in 1971, is responsible for planning, nature conservation, environmental health and air and water quality. This agency, along with the other principal national institutions which have environmental responsibilities, is described, and chapter three closes with a summary of the various governmental relationships and environmental management instruments available at the local and national level. The following two chapters examine and compare the current regulatory framework and standards and agreements. The financial aspects of environmental management and pollution control are described and some attention is also paid to national and regional planning issues, and energy and other sectoral policies. The final chapters reflect upon the industrial responses to environmental concerns, such as they are, and offer an assessment of “environmental performance” in Japan. The environmental agenda has gradually been integrated with that of industrial policy, and chapter six offers a detailed breakdown of private investment in pollution control and its associated costs in terms of production. Utility pricing, decision-making and voluntary agreements are also described, and the relevance of these experiences for the North explored in chapter seven. Public-private partnerships and popular participation in decision-making; use of low-cost, traditional technologies; raising prices of energy in line with supply costs; and the development of public awareness, education and the media have all played key roles in Japan’s environmental development.