Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
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Policy Bureau
General Principles of Universal Design Policy
III. Specific measures

7.  Planning communities where everyone can live safely and comfortably

   To create communities where people can lead their daily lives on foot, incentives are established to encourage the concentration of dwellings and facilities needed for daily life in neighborhoods while comfortable pedestrian spaces are established by comprehensively and systematically providing new related facilities. Advanced cases are accumulated as models for implementation nationwide.
(Related facilities)
 
   Funds are invested to support Special Purpose Corporations (SPC) that are corporations established especially to supply housing in a neighborhood and residence in the neighborhood is encouraged to restore its population.
   The concentration of public facilities and utilities in downtown is encouraged by applying incentives in city planning.
   Support is provided to encourage regional measures such as removing barriers from pedestrian spaces in neighborhoods and establishing regional medical treatment centers and public housing *15 with nursing care through links with welfare bureaus etc.
   In order to announce the principles and measures for community planning based on the concept of universal design in city planning, Planning Policy Guidance is formed.
   Support is given for integrated and continuous improvements of roads, parks, and private land etc. from the perspective of community creation to provide safe and comfortable pedestrian spaces. This is done by helping landowners, residents, corporations, and other regional bodies improve, manage, and operate their regions.
   Communities are created based on the concept of universal design through the integrated and comprehensive removal of barriers from transportation facilities and other buildings used by many people by removing level differences and electric power poles from sidewalks and by ensuring bicycle parking areas to create safe and comfortable pedestrian space.
   In addition to restoring urban districts based on the concept of universal design by comprehensively and strategically reconstructing public and public benefit facilities that had deteriorated and declined in new towns and other existing planned redevelopment urban housing districts, when public housing developments are reconstructed, also constructing welfare facilities etc. to provide welfare bases.
   Communities that are safe and worry-free for elderly and handicapped people and children are promoted by encouraging the seismic retrofitting of housing, establishing information provision systems to support evacuation during disasters, preparing guidelines to prevent people from accidentally falling down inside buildings, and by designing environments considering the prevention of crime in public facilities and in housing.

(Specific examples)

  Funds are invested to support SPC established by landowners to supply housing in city centers where the population has declined in order to promote residence in urban neighborhoods by the private sector. Applications of such methods as Special District Plan for Redevelopment or revising land use zone are promoted to induce the concentration of such facilities as medical and welfare facilities in douwntown.
  The creation of neighborhoods with housing and daily life related facilities concentrated in a range accessible by walking is promoted by constructing pedestrian decks (pedestrian space constructed above automobile roads) linking stations with public and public benefit facilities, transforming streets lined by shops into arcades, and by offering neighborhood improvement subsidies to supply housing in neighborhoods and providing comprehensive support to urban redevelopment projects.
  In residential districts such as Tama New Town or Senri New Town that were developed between 30 and 40 years ago, facilities have deteriorated and declined, the population has aged, and the period of overall redevelopment is approaching. Therefore, this situation is taken as the opportunity to redevelop multi-function cities based on the concept of universal design as places where diverse people can live, work, and relax.

*15  Public housing with nursing care: Housing designed for elderly households by combining barrier-free public housing with daily life support services by daily life support personnel (life support advisors) (Silver Housing Project).
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