Institute for Global Environmental Strategies
Report Part Title: Introduction
Report Title: Toyama City the Sustainable Development Goals Report
Report Subtitle: －Compact City Planning based on Polycentric Transport Networks－
Report Author(s): Ryoko NAKANO, Junichi FUJINO and Yatsuka KATAOKA
Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (2018)
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.com/stable/resrep21871.4
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1. Introduction
1.1 Overview of Toyama City
Overview
Toyama City is located in the middle of Honshu Island
along the Japan Sea. It is famous for its diverse terrain
and natural scenery and an elevation range of
approximately 4,000m—from the 1000 meter deep
waters of Toyama Bay to the 3000 meter peaks of the
Northern Alps Tateyama Mountain Range. Toyama City is
historically renowned as the town of medicine and
continues to be one of the most powerful cities located
on the coastlines of the Japan Sea with pharmaceuticals
leading various industries. It is also an advanced city, rich
in culture and history.
Toyama is placed on an alluvial fan with multiple rivers Figure 1 Map of Toyama City
including the Joganji River and the Jinzu River running
through the city. Many branches flowing from the upstream mountainous areas have been controlled
through levee construction and check dams over many centuries. However, large typhoons and
torrential downpours have increased in recent years, and there are concerns that these could
increase damages to the city’s assets.
About 70% of the city land is forested, and rich farm land is also available. The spectacular view of
the Tateyama Mountain Range from the city center is a favorite among the locals. The 2015 opening
of the Hokuriku Shinkansen that connects Toyama City to the Tokyo metropolitan area has promoted
a rise in the number of tourists visiting the city.
Historical Context
During the Edo Era (1603-1868), the Toyama Clan had in its possession 100,000 koku of rice (15000
MTs), and encouraged industries such as medicine and Japanese paper production. Since the
medieval period the city was the center for traditional Chinese and Japanese medicine that was
distributed throughout Japan by medicine merchants using unique sales methods, and via transport
and logistics networks including the Hida Kaido (road) and Kita-Mae-Bune shipping route.
The first hydroelectric power plant in northern Japan (the Hokuriku area) was built in Toyama, and
abundant electricity provided the foundations for the development of heavy industries, aluminium
and precision machinery. The urban area suffered devastating damage from air strikes in August
1945 but after WWII, the foundations for an industrial economy were developed allowing Toyama
City to become a leading commercial and industrial city along the Japan Sea coast, with
pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, robotics, electronic machinery and finance as key players. More
recently, the opening of Hokuriku Shinkansen has significantly reduced the travel time from the
Tokyo metropolitan area, and business innovation through development of unique new technologies
and products is also taking place. The business environment, however, remains severe as competition
against large suburban malls and online shopping prevail and difficulty in business succession to the
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next generation persist. Toyama must create an attractive commercial environment to bring back
prosperity.
The economy grew rapidly after WWII, and the Jinzu River basin experienced cadmium soil
contamination which caused the outbreak of “itai-itai” disease, one of the four major pollution-
triggered diseases in Japan. The land recovery project was concluded after 33 years with much
collaboration between citizens and other stakeholders within and outside of the city.
Socio-Economic Profile
Like other regional cities a rapidly declining population and an aging society are some of Toyama’s
key challenges for the future. If this happens with the current urban sprawl, it is likely to become
more difficult to provide basic services including medical and commercial services which are
supported by certain accumulation of population, sustainable and reasonable administration costs.
Therefore, it is essential for the city to incorporate in its’ urban plans policy measures to create a safe,
healthy and comfortable environment for senior citizens and the child-rearing generation, while also
being financially and economically sustainable.
Under these circumstances, it is important for Toyama to focus on the SDGs and promote a
“Compact Plus Network” by reviewing the city in its entirety including welfare and transport issues. In
particular, medical, welfare and commercial facilities should be located close to the residential area,
and public transport should provide access to these convenient facilities for residents including
senior citizens.
Toyama City has been careful to cooperate with health, medical and welfare service providers and
has paid extra attention to the regional agricultural and mountainous areas. The city aims to
promote “compact city planning based on a polycentric transport network” utilizing existing
resources in each regional district. More recently, the city has been actively encouraged relocation
from the suburbs and from outside of Toyama City to the city center where the population decline
has been significant, as well as to regional community hubs. Subsidies were granted to encourage
use of public transport, and districts within walking distance from railway and LRT stations were
renovated to become lively and engaging.
As an indicator to measure the progress in becoming a compact city, Toyama City Urban Master Plan
aims to increase the ratio of residents living in areas with good access to public transport from 37%
in 2017 to 42% by 2025.
A declining population and the aging of the population is expected for the whole of Toyama City,
but it is particularly serious in the hilly and mountainous areas and villages. This is causing villages to
disappear and farmland degradation. To achieve the SDGs, we aim to centralize various functions
and services around regional community hubs and secure transport network for surrounding villages
while preserving excellent nature, landscape, and farmland.
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Decreasing Population and Super-aging Society
In Toyama City, the total population has been decreasing since its peak in 2010, and a 20.3% decrease
is expected by 2045. As the number of children (0 to 14 years old) and the working age population (15
to 64 years old) decreases, senior population (65 years and above) will increase, with about 30% of the
total population to comprise of senior citizens by 2030. Consequently, there are concerns over possible
contraction of the economy caused by a decline in the working age population and a rise in social
security expenses such as medical and nursing insurance expenses due to an aging population.
Figure 2 Changes in Toyama City’s population (source: Toyama City）
Falling Population Density in Urban Area
The urban area of Toyama City quickly spread to the suburbs as the population and number of
households increased, supported by the flat terrain surrounding the area, and affordable pricing in the
suburban areas. The area of densely inhabited district (DID) has roughly doubled in the last 35 years,
but the population density within DID is the lowest among prefectural capitals in Japan at 40.7 / ha
(Figure 3).
Figure 3 Changes in Toyama City’s densely inhabited district area and population density
（source: Toyama City)
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Rising Administrative Costs
Lower population density in the urban area is a major factor in rising administrative costs in terms of
city management. Urban sprawl will require establishment of new infrastructure such as roads, water,
sewage and parks, and increase the districts that need snow ploughing, road cleaning, and garbage
collection. With concerns over falling tax revenue from shrinking working age population,
administrative costs for city management per capita are expected to rise.
Dependency on Cars and Deterioration of Public Transport
Toyama Prefecture has the second highest car ownership per household in Japan. In contrast, public
transport has deteriorated significantly, and the number of public transport users has been decreasing
in the past two decades. Buses have seen a large decrease in the number of users.
Residents without Free Use of Cars
According to a survey by Toyama City targeting citizens aged 15 and over, about 30% of respondents
stated that they did not have free use of cars. Of which, about 80% were women, and about 70% were
senior citizens aged 60 or above. Those without free use of cars mainly rely on being driven in cars, or
they use buses and bicycles. However, continued deterioration of bus services for their daily lives is
making the city a very inconvenient place for them to live. With further aging of society, the ratio of
people without free use of cars is expected to rise higher.
Measures towards Low-Carbon Society (Increase in CO2 Emission)
In Toyama City, excessive dependency on cars and the structure of scattered city functions resulted in
about 15.7% increase in CO2 emissions between 1990 and 2005 across four divisions: industry,
households, business/other, and transport. The growth in emissions is above the national average in
three divisions (households, business/other, and transport), and requires significant reduction.
Unit: thousand ton of CO2
1990 2005
Change
Ratio Ratio
Energy conversion 76.8 1.9% 45.6 1.0% -40.6%
Energy
Industry 1670.9 42.1% 1534.1 34.8% -8.2%
origin CO2
Household 518.1 13.1% 801 18.2% 54.6%
emission by
category
Business other 411.3 10.4% 619.1 14.0% 50.5%
Transport 848.8 21.4% 1037.4 23.5% 22.2%
Non-energy origin CO2
272.3 6.9% 245.6 5.6% -9.8%
(industrial process, waste)
CH4, N2O 90.6 2.3% 80.7 1.8% -10.9%
3 fluorinated gas alternatives 76.8 1.9% 44.8 1.0% -41.7%
Total 3965.6 100.0% 4408.3 100.0% 11.2%
Figure 4 Toyama’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions (excluding those absorbed by forests) （source: Toyama City）
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1.2 Compact City Planning by Toyama City
To address the issues stated in section (1) above,
the Toyama City Urban Master Plan was
established as the grand design for city planning
in 2008.
The urban master plan states that the concept of
city planning is “compact city planning based on
polycentric transport networks by reviving public
transport led by railways, and accumulating
various city functions including housing,
commerce, business and culture along them.” The
city structure is described as “skewered
dumplings”, with the regional centers as the
dumplings and the public transport as the skewer.
This compact city concept serves as the backbone
for Toyama’s urban planning and is reflected in Figure 5 Compact city planning based
the Comprehensive Plan (the highest-level plan on polycentric transport networks
for the City) and other related plans for welfare
and the environment.
Figure 6 Relevant plans for the compact city strategy
(source: Toyama City)
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1.3 Significance of Promoting SDGs in Toyama City
Compact city planning by Toyama City has been highly appreciated by the Japanese government, and
the city was selected to participate in the national initiatives for leading cities, the Eco-Model City
project in 2008 and FutureCity project in 2011. The aim of these projects were to realize “a city where
everybody wishes to live” and “a city where everybody is active,” by addressing the common issues
faced by humanity such as environment and aging.
The SDGs promote sustainable development by integrating three dimensions: economic, social and
environmental. Toyama City’s “FutureCity” project used the same integrated approach as the SDGs
allowing it to stay one step ahead other municipalities. Our efforts to achieve the SDGs through
compact city planning have the potential to become a global role model. By deploying and spreading
our success in Japan and overseas through cooperation and collaboration with various stakeholders, we
can present an example of a Future City for the SDGs. Toyama City is a strong promoter of the SDGs.
2. Preparing the report
This report was prepared by collaboration between Toyama City and the Institute for Global
Environmental Strategies (IGES) who has concluded a partnership agreement with Toyama City on
supporting its path to develop a sustainable society.
Toyama city was selected in June 2018 as a participant to a national initiative by the name of “SDGs
FutureCity” and “Municipal SDGs Model Projects” that seeks to promote regional revitalization. This
report was based on background studies when drafting the Japanese government’s call for
applications on the institutional framework used to promote such projects as well as the regional
issues that prevail in Toyama. The report has been developed using the “Handbook for the
Preparation of Voluntary National Reviews: 2018 Edition” as reference.
SDGs FutureCity and Municipal SDGs Model Project
◼ SDGs FutureCity program: Participants are select 29 cities and regions with the
potential for achieving sustainable development by creating new values in
economic, social and environmental dimensions. They aim to achieve this by
promoting basic and general policies aligned with the SDGs concepts.
◼ Municipal SDGs Model Projects: 10 leading projects by participants in the SDGs
FutureCity program above that are likely to achieve an autonomous cycle in the
region through collaboration with various stakeholders.
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