ID: 2038
Presenting Author: Yuki SHIBATA
Session: 516 - Asian S3EA: Strategic, Spatial and Sustainable EA with effective information
Status: pending
This study analyzes how Japanese municipalities apply sustainability assessment in comprehensive planning, revealing limited implementation beyond environmental aspects.
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) has played an important role in conserving the natural environment in development projects. Recently, many countries have introduced sustainability assessment (SA) to promote a more comprehensive approach to regional sustainability. Unlike conventional EIAs, SA integrates environmental, social, and economic dimensions. Applying this process to municipal comprehensive planning is expected to enhance the sustainability of local development strategies. However, Japan’s current EIA legislation requires assessment only of biophysical impacts and does not mandate social or economic evaluation. Consequently, the practice of SA has not been widely adopted in Japan. To explore this issue, this study conducted a questionnaire survey of 254 municipal governments engaged in sustainability-oriented urban policies, obtaining valid responses from 198 municipalities. Drawing on previous SA studies, 25 key tasks across four phases were identified as essential elements of the SA process. The analysis revealed that municipalities with advanced SA-like processes implemented about 80% of these tasks, while many others implemented few or none. Moreover, implementation levels varied considerably across the different SA phases.
Ph. D., Associate Professor at Department of Environmental Science, TOHO University.
Coauthor 1: Katsuhide TAKAHASHI