“The 21st century is often called the ‘urban century’. In aspects such as environment, society, and economy, the role of cities is increasingly important. To achieve sustainable urban management our city has been advancing strategies such as the Compact City for over 20 years and developing smart city initiatives to achieve further comprehensive growth. By participating in the OECD Champion Mayors, we will learn from other cities and continue to progress toward sustainability, despite population decline and a super-aging society.”
Mayor Hirohisa Fujii was born in 1962 and graduated from the Faculty of Engineering at Kogakuin University in Tokyo. He was first elected to the Toyama Prefectural Assembly in 2011 and re-elected in 2015. In 2021, he was elected Mayor of Toyama City. Mayor Fujii has established a Smart City Promotion Vision, which aims to further improve the quality of life and convenience for each citizen by utilizing digital technology and data, while continuing the compact city approach for sustainable urban management. By further deepening the compact city concept and complementing and integrating it with smart city initiatives, Mayor Fujii aims to create a vibrant community where all citizens can feel happy, even in the face of an aging population and declining birth-rate.
Toyama City will continue to develop as a compact city, building on its previous successes. The economic downturn and rising social security costs caused by population decline and aging will only worsen. Previous initiatives have highlighted the value of public transportation and curbed urban sprawl, providing many citizens with access to public transportation and changing their lifestyles.
Toyama City aims to leverage the city’s resources, such as the Light Rail Transit (LRT) network and our accumulated know-how, to transform Toyama into a sustainable and compact future city. To achieve this, the City will enhance the convenience of areas surrounding stations other than terminal stations. By providing more opportunities for people of all generations to remain active and offering a wider variety of lifestyles regardless of where they live in the city, Toyama City aims to improve the quality of life among residents.
The City will also promote the development and establishment of local businesses through collaboration between industry, academia, government, and the private sector. Its goal is to achieve sustainable growth of a strong and vibrant regional economy.
Amidst the progressing aging population and depopulation in regional cities across Japan, urban management is facing increasing challenges. These include rising social security costs, particularly medical expenses, and declining tax revenues due to the shrinking working-age population.
Foreseeing these challenges, Toyama has been practicing the concept of a compact city for urban management even before the current heightened attention to population decline in Japan. Moving forward, Toyama aims to further enhance the quality of life and convenience for each citizen by promoting a smart city that leverages digital technology and data, while continuing the development of the existing compact city.
In recent years, citizen needs have diversified, leading to the complexification and sophistication of administrative challenges. As a result, it has become increasingly difficult for the administration to address these issues alone.
The realization of a smart city requires co-creation by diverse stakeholders, including businesses and organizations. By operating a platform and promoting co-creation among industry, academia, and government, Toyama aims to create smart city-related projects that address regional challenges and citizens’ concerns.