ABSTRACT

This chapter makes three starting assumptions. First is that a core goal of many machizukuri processes is the attempt by groups of people to change the rules of how places are managed in efforts to make their life spaces more livable. In this view, machizukuri is about gaining a greater role and voice for civil society actors in processes of managing shared spaces. Second is that there have in fact been significant changes in Japanese conceptions of how urban change should be managed during the 60 years since the end of World War II, and third is that understanding those processes of change will help us to understand the contemporary issues and challenges of machizukuri practice.