Send message to Author

Paper short abstract

Drawing on the case of the “open park” event in Kyoto, this paper discusses how, in the face of demographic change in cities, solutions are sought that open up new spaces and avenues for youth participation, intergenerational exchange, and sustainable governance.

Paper long abstract

The effects of demographic change and population decline are now evident throughout Japan. Even major cities such as Kyoto struggle with an aging population, an outmigration of young workers and families, a shrinking tax base, and the resulting strain on municipal services. One response to these challenges has been the pursuit of new governance partnerships. In 2021, Kyoto City initiated a pilot project searching for private actors to assume management responsibilities for selected public parks. While this may be viewed as a worrying sign of neo-liberal decentralization, privatization, and burden shifting, it has also opened up new opportunities for diverse actors to collaborate and reimagine the park as a public asset through expanded forms of participation.

One initiative that emerged in the wake of this pilot project is a monthly “open park” event planned and organized by several stakeholders in a public park in Kyoto. This event aims to create a community space for the neighborhood, facilitate intergenerational exchange, and provide access to a place that everyone can use freely. Through strategic cooperation with university professors, it also drew the interest of many young participants and students.

This paper examines how the “open park” facilitated the exploration of new forms of local participation, especially of younger people. This is of importance, as Kyoto City has been promoting youth participation, but young voices have often been overlooked so far. I ask how and to what degree the “open park” succeeded in creating a community space for different generations. I argue that these new constellations constitute a turning point for participation in city planning and governance in Kyoto, which warrants close analysis. I address these questions by drawing on a qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews from two fieldwork phases, news reports, pamphlets, and policy documents.

My analysis sheds light on new spaces and avenues for youth participation, intergenerational exchange, and sustainable governance. Thus, I contribute to and update the existing literature on civil society, machizukuri, and governance in Japan by providing a new and specific perspective on youth participation in planning.