Shukugen-Shakai no Goi-Keisei (Consensus Formation in a Shrinking Society - Spatial Control and Municipal Governance in an Era of Declining Population)

This book was created at the culmination of a four-year joint research project conducted by a study group on consensus formation. The group was comprised of 10 researchers from the following disciplines: administrative law, sociology of law, philosophy of law, political theory, public administration, local governance, and urban planning. The scope of discussion on the consensus formation can be broad. Hence, this book focuses on the consensus formation in a “shrinking society,” which, in the context of this book, refers to the current situation that Japan is facing—i.e., a society with a declining population and stagnating economic growth. This book also considers that fewer—or even no people at all—use space for their activities in a shrinking society. Accordingly, the book focuses on spatial control on the basis of a view that consensus forming on the use and nonuse of land is critical in a shrinking society. Additionally, the use and nonuse of land as well as spatial control require a consensus formation for each individual location. Therefore, this book discusses the use and nonuse of land and spatial control as issues pertaining to municipal governance as it is closely interrelated with individual locations. While maintaining a general, and theoretical perspective consensus formation, this book presents findings from research projects that focused on the following three aspects: a shrinking society, spatial control, and municipal governance.
 
This book is comprised of three parts which follow an introduction that discusses the abovementioned research interests. In Part 1, there is an exploration of the framework theory of the consensus formation. This part summarizes concepts and theories that form a common basis of the analysis of a shrinking society, spatial control, and municipal governance in this book. This section also introduces readers to general theories of consensus formation that are not limited to issues discussed in this book. The consensus formation is defined in Part 1 as a situation where no objections are made while noting that various processes of this formation can be generated from objections (Chapter 1). Subsequently, the book explains that objections and reasons for agreement are key in the process of consensus forming (Chapter 2). On the basis of the preceding chapters, Chapter 3 depicts an overview of the consensus formation in a shrinking society.
 
Part 2 presents a discussion regarding the consensus formation and the operation of law. Expanding on an assumption that the consensus formation by operation of law can result in suboptimal outcomes, this book discusses the bright side of the work toward achieving agreement (Chapter 4). Meanwhile, Chapter 5 compares Japan and Germany. It finds that the consensus formation, which are seen in municipal governance and local community settings, are not idiosyncratic to Japan. It is then shown in Chapter 6 that a consensus is formed in an inductive manner based on an assumption that there may be a legal challenge. Given the above, Chapter 7 discusses the possibility of the consensus formation process as a mediator of public interests, which are negotiated through court trials.
 
Part 3 includes the discussion of the consensus formation from a policy perspective. On the one hand, this part provides the detailed classification of consensus formation in zoning plan at a micro level (Chapter 8); on the other hand, it sheds light in a broader regional planning context (Chapter 9). What follows is a discussion in Chapter 10 regarding the various means of consensus forming in policymaking in prefectures. Chapter 11 then features a consideration of the structure that defines the consensus formation at national and local levels.
 
The final chapter summarizes the above discussions on consensus formation from perspectives of actors in decision-making. This is done with the aim of helping readers to gain a cross-sectional and integrated understanding of all of the chapters, as well as providing a view toward developing theories of consensus formation going forward. This book aims to provide possible solutions to the issues of spatial control from a perspective of the consensus formation. There have been growing concerns among Japan’s municipalities that these site-level issues need to be urgently addressed as there has been an increase in the number of vacant properties and abandoned arable land, and marginal villages in rural areas are expected to disappear. Failure in forming consensus may lead to a heightened expectation that the authoritative power can unilaterally make decisions. However, unilateral decisions do not reflect the opinions of the local people, and therefore can result in suboptimal outcomes, which can give rise to further spatial control issues. The message of this book is that it is necessary for Japan, which is now a shrinking society, to explore the possibilities of forming consensus.
 

(Written by KANAI Toshiyuki, Professor, Graduate Schools for Law and Politics / 2021)