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Home >> National and Regional Planning Bureau >> The Relocation of the Diet and Other Organizations >> Q&A Chapter 3: Outline of Report Presented by the Council for the Relocation of the Diet and Other Organizations
The Council for the Relocation of the Diet and Other Organizations, the Prime Minister’s advisory organization, presented a report stating candidate areas for the relocation of the capital functions, and related matters, on December 20, 1999, after about three years of thorough discussions.
The candidates proposed are the Tochigi-Fukushima area in the Hokuto region and the Gifu-Aichi area in the Tokai region.
In addition to these two areas, the Ibaraki area has advantages, including a low susceptibility to natural disasters. This region is expected to link with the Tochigi-Fukushima area for support and supplement.
The Mie-Kio area is another prospective candidate. The area has features not offered by the other candidate areas. It will be a candidate area if a new high-speed transportation network is built in the area.
The Council for the Relocation of the Diet and Other Organizations selected the Tochigi-Fukushima area in the Hokuto region and the Gifu-Aichi area in the Tokai region as the candidate areas for the relocation.
The Mie-Kio area has features that the other areas do not have. If a high-speed transportation network were to be built and available to this area, the area would become eligible as a candidate area for the relocation.
The new city would be on the key Tohoku transportation route, which is the main transportation route for the Hokuto region. This route would enable easy connection with Tokyo and Sendai, receiving support and cooperation from Utsunomiya, Koriyama, and other major cities. It could also be linked with areas on the Sea of Japan. The new city could enhance its value by ensuring smooth links with the Ibaraki area, which is on the key Joban transportation route.
Sendai and the Miyagi area, which are on a key Tohoku transportation route, would be the basis for support and cooperation with the new city.
If Mt. Nasudake erupts, considerable damage would be inflicted on the Nasu area along the Naka River. Therefore, the design of the new city would have to include considerations regarding the arrangement of urban functions and measures regarding disaster preparedness.
The new city would be in the Chukyo district, which can easily link with Tokyo and Nagoya. The facilities that would support the capital functions would be built not only on the key Tomei transportation route, but also on a key transportation route that would link with Chubu International Airport. The Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway would provide a major link between the new city and areas on the Sea of Japan. When Chubu International Airport opens and a new high-speed transportation network passes through this area, the new city and Nagoya will make considerable advances on a global scale and in other respects as well.
The Shizuoka-Aichi area would be the basis of support and cooperation with the new city because of its convenient transportation link.
This area could be subject to interplate earthquakes. If a major earthquake occurs, certain areas could be seriously affected. It is therefore urgent to study the arrangement of urban functions, measures for disaster preparedness, and procedures for maintaining traffic and information paths in the event of a major disaster.
Including part of the Kansai and Chukyo spheres, the Mie-Kio area is near the Kinai area, which has long played a central role in creating and passing along traditional Japanese culture. In this sense, the Mie-Kio area has a long history. It can also easily link with areas on the Sea of Japan. The new city would be able to make effective use of the numerous functions and cultural resources present in Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka. These features distinguish this area from the other areas. If a new high-speed transportation network were to be built in this area, the area would be eligible as a candidate area for the relocation.
However, interplate earthquakes could occur in this area. If a major earthquake occurs, certain areas would be seriously affected. It is therefore urgent to study the arrangement of urban functions, measures for effective disaster prevention, and procedures for maintaining traffic and information paths in the event of a major disaster.
During its investigations and deliberations to select the candidates, the Council emphasized objectivity and fairness.
In Phase 1, the Council conducted a broad, general survey and chose the Hokuto, Tokai, and Mie-Kio regions as those requiring more detailed investigation.
In Phase 2, the Council asked many experts to conduct thorough investigations of the above regions in terms of 16 characteristics. The Council also conducted hearings from representatives of the prefectures involved, dispatched Council members for on-region surveys, and held public hearings at nine locations.
In Phase 3, the Council proceeded with more thorough investigations for the three candidate regions. The investigations covered the locations of available airports, roads, railways, and other transport facilities in the above three regions and the extent to which these facilities had been improved. The views of residents of the regions were sought with regard to the relocation of the capital functions. The Council chose ten areas in the three regions for comprehensive evaluation.
For this comprehensive evaluation, the Council used a weighting method to quantify the ratings of the candidate areas. By combining this comprehensive evaluation with additional multilateral investigations of a wide range of features in the areas—such as links between the new city and other areas, capabilities of dealing with earthquakes and other natural disasters, planned improvements to transportation facilities, and other subjects related to the new city—the Council selected the candidate areas.
Comprehensive evaluations using a weighting method were conducted for the ten areas, each of which was selected as an integral area where the new city could be built.
For these comprehensive evaluations, the Council held meetings so that experts specializing in related fields could conduct detailed quantitative investigations of the ten candidate areas in terms of 16 characteristics. The Council members had conducted a separate study to work out a method for assigning a weight to each characteristic. The results of these two studies were combined to obtain a comprehensive evaluation score for each area.
The results of the comprehensive evaluations indicated no significant difference between the scores of the areas. However, the score of the Tochigi-Fukushima area was the highest, followed by that of the Gifu-Aichi area.
When conducting its comprehensive evaluation, the Council attempted to apply multiple techniques with an emphasis on objectivity. In addition to the weighting method, other techniques were employed, including conversion to monetary values, comparison with threshold values, and qualitative descriptions. The weighting method was found to be superior to these other methods for the following reasons:
(1) Evaluation can be conducted on many different characteristics, including those not suitable for conversion to monetary values.
(2) The results of the evaluation of all 16 characteristics can be reflected in a comprehensive evaluation with a high degree of objectivity.
(3) The results of the evaluation are clear and unambiguous.
The weighting method had already been used successfully for selecting suitable areas for airports and other projects. Considering the above benefits and the track record of such procedures, the Council decided to use the weighting method.
Specifically, the overall evaluation score of each candidate area was obtained using the following linear function in which each characteristic is weighted:
U = S wiui
where U is the overall evaluation score, wi is the weight assigned to characteristic i, and ui is the value representing the evaluation of characteristic i.
When finally selecting the candidate areas, the Council conducted multilateral investigations while respecting the numeric scores obtained through the comprehensive evaluation using the weighting method. Multilateral investigations were aimed at regional characteristics, links between the new city and other areas, susceptibility to earthquakes and other natural disasters, future improvements of transportation facilities, and problems involved in the building of the new city, among others.
From the above viewpoint, multilateral investigations were conducted on the Tochigi-Fukushima and Gifu-Aichi areas, which had higher overall evaluation scores, and were also used to determine whether to nominate other candidate areas.
The results of the multilateral investigations were that the Tochigi-Fukushima and Gifu-Aichi areas were still advantageous in comparison with other areas. The Mie-Kio area has special features, including the accumulation of a variety of functions and cultural attributes in Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, and other major cities. If a new high-speed transportation network is built and accessible to this area, the area would likely become a candidate area because the new transportation network would raise the status of the area as a candidate. Having the advantages of a low susceptibility to natural disasters, the Ibaraki area would support the Tochigi-Fukushima area with regard to international and related activities.
