Recent Development of Decentralization, Deregulation and Citizens' Participation in Japanese City Planning Law

This paper sketches recent developments of Japanese urban development law, while highlighting a number of developments linked to the effort of decentralization. It should be emphasized that the policy of decentralization is linked to citizens’ participation on one hand and to deregulation policy on the other hand. The classic model of Japanese Construction Law -- the principle of minimum intervention together with state regimentation -- is today untenable, because it does not fit the tasks of an ‘urbanized society’. Under this perspective, the author describes the recent trends of decentralization in 1998-2000. The author also critically reviews "urban renaissance" legal reform in 2002, which is nothing but a combination of deregulation and new centralization