Shrinking communities in Japan: Community ownership of assets as a development potential for rural Japan?

In the context of a decline in its overall population, Japan's non-metropolitan areas are most severely affected by the ongoing demographic change. The fast-spreading 'marginal settlement' (genkai shuraku) phenomenon, which refers to communities that have reached the limits of their manageability due to depopulation and ageing, requires a fundamental shift in Japan's policy response to trends of regional abandonment and collapse. The article analyses current and future economic and socio-demographic challenges facing shrinking communities in Japan, and assesses the development and institutional context of government policies related to depopulating mountain areas in particular. It argues that shrinking communities should abandon the expectation of externally induced local revitalization and concentrate on asset-based community development. Community ownership of assets is discussed as a creative and innovative means to facilitate local engagement, foster local place attachment and thereby strengthen the resilience of rural communities and their independence from central government control. URBAN DESIGN International (2013) 18, 99-109. doi:10.1057/udi.2012.26; published online 21 November 2012