ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a typical case of empowering citizens to make planning propositions in Japan. It focuses on three aspects of the process: building capacity of stakeholders for a better state of social capital, making consensus on environmental management issues, and shaping a continuing planning and management system based on consensus through communication. The chapter explores a case study of community based planning in Fukaya, in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo. The sericultural industry and the paper industry grew, and a brick factory established by the famous Tokyo businessman, Eiichi Shibusawa, became a symbol of modernization. In Fukaya, the national government designated most of the area, except the northern part of the city, as a 'city planning area.' The decrease of both population and number of households in downtown Fukaya and the increase of those in other parts of Fukaya City are due to suburban housing developments that occurred during the period.
