Settlement development through linking people. A case of Kitagata Project in Japan

HIC

Buraku means a small settlement in Japanese, but it also refers to an area where socially discriminated people live (Burakumin). According to an estimate, there are some 6000 Buraju settlements all over the country that house more than 3 million Burakumins.

The Kitagata Project is a recent successful case of Buraku settlement improvement. Kitagata, a large Burakumin community of 4199 people is located in Kitakyushu City in southern Japan. It was densely inhabited, with very narrow roads an public spaces. The local community repeatedly requested improvement. But it was not until 1982 when the city’s Advisory Board stressed a need for a comprehensive program for the area that the local community and the government reached a consensus to initiate large-scale improvements.

The city government engaged a planning consultant to work with the people and formulate a redevelopment plan. The planners lived in the settlement 6 years during the planning and implementation periods. They were well-integrated in the community and worked as intermediaries between the people and the government.

It was found that, while narrow lanes and crowded housing were causing problems of fire hazards and lack of ventilation and sunlight, the community was well managed to clean an place plants, flowers and benches along the lanes where people occasionally at and talked together in the evenings. People and planners were determined to keep such an interactive space. A council of community leaders was established holding monthly meetings and issuing regular newsletters, assisted by planners and city administrators. Women and children were orgnized to discuss the community development.

The people participated in the designing of new housing, resulting in a unique concept of having common corridors on the southern side of the flats to ensure community interaction. Views of individual families were reflected in their unit design and external spaces. This participatory design process was called Moyai, which implies linking people.

In 1993 the implementation of the Project was completed. The Council in now concerned with the maintenance of the area and discusses a management system through partnership between the community and the administration. Residents in new buildings have organized meetings to study methods and systems of community maintenance.

Background Description

Buraku means a small settlement in Japanese, but it also refers to an area where socially discriminated people (Burakumin) live. According to an estimate, there are some 6,000
Buraku settlements all over the country that house more than 3 million Burakumins. Traditionally they were unduly claimed to be “filthy”, and they have been segregated for hundreds of years in terms of occupation, marriage, and living environment. Since the
1920s, however, a strong national-level movement has been organized by Burakumin for their own human rights protection and liberation. In 1969, a special time-bound law was enacted to facilitate the improvement of designated Buraku areas, followed by a series of follow-up legislation.

While the discrimination still persists, many of the Buraku settlements have been physically improved. Indeed, Buraku upgrading represents the most comprehensive, participatory, and innovative urban improvement cases in Japan. These are characterized by (i) a strong. federated Burakumin’s organization (Buraku Liberation League; BLL) as a representative group acting at the various levels of government, (ii) a framework integrating the settlement development within socio-economic well-being and human rights issues, (iii) legislative and other responses from the national government with preferential subsides for specific Buraku projects, and (iv) systematized institutional set-up at the municipal government level.

Kitagata Project Experience

The Kitagata Project is a recent successful case of Buraku settlement improvement. Kitagata, a large Burakumin community of 4,100 people is located in Katkyushu City in
Southern Japan. It was densely inhabited,, with very narrow roads and public spaces. The local community repeatedly requested improvement. But it was not until 1982 when the city’s Advisory Board stressed a need for a comprehensive program for the area that the local community and the government reached a consensus to initiate large-scale improvements.

The city government engaged a planning consultant called the Wakatake Planning
Research Institute to work with the people and formulate a redevelopment plan. A local field office was set up in the middle of the Kitagata area. Yokoh Hatakenaka, one of the writers of this study, and his colleagues from Wakatake stayed in the settlement and lived there for 6 years during the planning and implementation periods. They were wellintegrated in the community and worked as intermediaries between the people and the government.

It was found that, while narrow lanes and crowded housing were causing problems of fire hazards and lack of ventilation and sunlight, ventilation and sunlight the community was well managed to clean and place plants, flowers and benches along the lanes where people occasionally sat and talked together in the evenings. People and planners were determined to keep such an interactive space. A Council of community leaders was established, holding monthly meetings and issuing regular newsletters, assisted by planners and city administrators. Women and children were organized to discuss the community development.

The people participated in the designing of new housing, resulting in a unique concept of having common corridors on the southern side of flats to ensure community interaction.
Views of individual families were reflected in their unit design and external spaces. This participatory design process was called Moyai which implies linking people.

In 1993 the implementation of the Project was completed. The Council is now concerned with the maintenance of the area and discusses a management system through partnership between the community and the administration. Residents in new buildings have organized meetings to study methods and systems of community maintenance.

Lessons Learned

The present study provides a background of Buraku issues in Japan and the national Buraku settlement improvement program. Urged by strenuous struggle by BLL, the role of the central government was to work out a framework for Buraku improvement projects with specified national subsidy elements. The municipal government is responsible for taking an initiative in the application of an improvement scheme. The most important element is strong organization at the community level to promote people and negotiate with the local authorities. Normally a BLL community branch performs this essential role.

In dealing with the particular case of Kitagata, the study highlights the role of planners, which was vital. Hatakenaka and his colleagues, together with several university researchers, were fully involved and they not only provided technical advice, but also worked as catalyst in the community and as advocates in dialogue with the government. It is interesting that an independent consultant engaged by the local government was able to perform such functions.

Japan
Government / NGO cooperation
Urban improvement
Public housing
Environmental improvement
Community participation
Urban planning