Inclusion and Seclusion in Area Management Activities

Abstract

The contribution explores the significance of recent and current attention towards “area management” activities in Japanese urban policy. It, first, examines the current, highly diverse situation of such activities in Japan and the historical background. The author then provides for an analysis of the first attempt in Japan to introduce a comprehensive legal scheme of so-called “Business Improvement Districts” (BIDs) by the city of Ōsaka in 2014. BIDs are widely utilized in North America and Europe. Among others, the Ōsaka BID scheme aims to guarantee stable revenue for area management activities and attempts to institutionalize public support for them. This raises the question whether area management activities have a public nature or whether they constitute only a pursuit of private interests. Another aspect discussed is the possibility of gentrification and the creation of social segregation in the form of so-called “gated communities” as a by-product of area management activities.

 (The Editors)