ABSTRACT
In this chapter, urban planning and infrastructure development of Japanese cities after the second world war, which has constructed urban systems of current Japanese cities, is examined. The Japanese cities had catastrophic damages due to bombing and lack of resources during the war. Five Comprehensive National Development Plans were developed in the following four decades to support post-war recovery, economic growth and balanced distribution of industry and infrastructure across the country. Enhancing disaster resilience and preparing for mega disasters were main themes in all National Development Plans. As a disaster-prone country, buildings and infrastructure have been designed and maintained to be tolerable to earthquakes, floods, tsunami and typhoons. In this chapter, it is explained how the focus of ‘disaster prevention’, ‘disaster reduction’ and ‘mitigation’ are shifted from infrastructure development to reinforcing individuals’ behaviour in preparing and acting to save their lives and help each other.
