“A city where everyone can thrive in their own way.” To make this vision a reality for Yokohama, I am working to expand support for childrearing and implement both a Green Transformation and a Digital Transformation. I look forward to working with other Champion Mayors who share these priorities to develop solutions to global issues like the climate crisis and to strive towards inclusive growth together.
Dr. Takeharu Yamanaka (born in 1972) became the 33rd Mayor of Yokohama, Japan’s second-largest city and home to 3.77 million residents, in August 2021. Prior to entering politics, he served as Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Data Science at Yokohama City University after a research experience at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and other institutions. Mayor Yamanaka now actively works to leverage data-driven processes in policy decision-making and drive Yokohama’s green transformation (GX) into a carbon neutral society. He leads efforts to make Yokohama a preferred destination for growing families and young professionals, older citizens and the next generation, as well as for dynamic businesses and investment.
To achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, Yokohama has set fiscal 2030 as a target for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, and will work alongside local businesses and residents on ambitious initiatives to apply decarbonization to drive further city growth.
In addition to the three Rs (Reduce, Re-use, and Recycle), to which we add Renewables, as well as efforts to reduce food loss, Yokohama is promoting the development of a circular economy that will help energize the local economy and address local urban challenges.
Yokohama will also continue to encourage consumer behaviors that make the most of regional differences, promote environmental education for children who will lead the next generation, and endorse local renewable energy development and the concept of “local production for local consumption” to foster a society that is self-reliant, decentralized, and more resilient.
Yokohama strives to provide an environment appealing to young people, where anyone can conceive, give birth, and raise children in safety and comfort. By ensuring stability in the lives of all children and their families, and enabling each child and young person to recognize their own merit and potential, they will be empowered build their own happy lives and welcoming communities.
Yokohama also seeks to implement policies that will support education to develop every child’s abilities and unique qualities based on three perspectives: education that values each individual child; coordination and cooperation among families, communities, and related organizations; and promotion of evidence-based policy making (EBPM) in education.
Yokohama aims to foster an inclusive, communal society, where everyone, no matter their age, can feel their role in the community is valued, enjoy their health and a purposeful life, live where they feel at home or in their location of choice, and enrich the city with expressions of their individuality.
As the super-aging population grows, Yokohama will work to enhance long-term care, medical care, and health and welfare services, so that residents who require specialized care can live their own lives in comfort and peace of mind.
Yokohama will promote initiatives for digital transformation (DX) on the administrative, local, and city levels, under the concept of “Digital x Design,” to design a future for Yokohama where administration and residents take the initiative in using technology to address issues through people and community-centered digital implementation.
To create new value and services, the city will utilize data and cutting-edge technologies, promote open innovation initiatives in collaboration with citizens, businesses, and university research institutions, and create a DX unique to Yokohama, and share the benefits of digital technology with all residents and communities and create an attractive city.