ABSTRACT
The development of the suburban estate of Hieidaira in the late 1960s formed part of the tremendous post-war expansion of new residential areas housing Japan's new corp of salaried employees and professionals. Unfortunately. like other estates developed during this suburban boom, Hieidaira was constructed rather shoddily. It lacked during its first few years almost all of what were then considered essential public amenities and facilities for a new residential area. Moreover, both the internal social character of the neighbourhood, as well as its dependence on external political and economic agencies, seemed unfavourable for the initiation of a collective effort aimed at rectifying this situation. Internally, not only was there a lack of any kind of community organization, but the attributes of the recently arrived middle-class population seemed to limit the potential for such a movement: a lack of sentimental or prior associational basis for cohesion; weak identification with the area; and the absence of mutual neighbour obligations and loyalty. Externally the suburb was dependent on large-scale and complex organizations (the developer, city and prefectural administrations, Boards of Education, public utilities, transport companies) for the provision of essential services and facilities.
