In Fukuoka there used to be communities where residents helped each other and connected with a sense of trust and comfort.  However, in recent years there has been less interest in participating in community activities due to an increasing number of double-income, single-person, and elderly households and growing urbanisation.

Simultaneously, because of the impending “super-aged society” facing the whole of Japan, concerns around community ties, cooperation and the expectations of an ageing population are growing.

Project objectives

1. making the community attractive
2. creating community ties
3. creating community leaders

Fukuoka City is engaged in collaborative community building and has established partnerships with local communities, local businesses, NPOs (non-profit organisations) and universities, in order to provide safe and equitable living conditions for all citizens.

Initiatives include:

Financial support provided for the Community Council

Fukuoka City supports community-building activities conducted by the community councils and provides subsidies to promote the community-building work by the collaboration of the residents’ associations, citizens, and city administration.

Support for the development of a district vision

The city promotes community development which involves residents sharing the current status and future image of their community.

Creating local community ties

The City provides financial support for new initiatives conducted by the neighbourhood associations, devised in a way that makes it possible for all residents to participate and interact with each other.

Creating community leaders

The City helps build community leadership by training people who are interested in being ‘leaders of local activities’, or those who are already engaged in community activities.

To reduce the burden on individual leaders, the City promotes the participation of companies as new leaders:

• Registration and publication of companies supporting Fukuoka community ties programme
• Promote collaboration by holding corporate seminars
• Presentation of tokens of appreciation to companies supporting local activities

The lead agency for the project is the Community Promotion Division of the Fukuoka City Council and the Fukuoka City Citizens Bureau.

In 2016, a citizen survey on liveability” was conducted with the following results:

• 96.7% of respondents agreed with the statement “I like Fukuoka City”;
• 95.8% of respondents agreed with the statement “Fukuoka City is a comfortable place to live”.
• 92.4% of respondents agreed with the statement “I want to continue to live in Fukuoka City”.

These responses are higher than in previous city government surveys.

• Although most citizens are aware of the importance of community activities, many of them do not participate. More effort is required to encourage community participation.
• Encouraging citizens to watch out for and support one another is a major challenge, it is necessary to create community activities and events that are tailored to current values and lifestyles.
• There are not enough leaders for community activities and they often rely on the same people to volunteer for these positions. Thus, a system to nurture future leaders needs to be established.

Through the increasing work with the community as well as local businesses, NGOs, and universities, the local government can utilise their expertise and capabilities in finding sustainable solutions for the city.

http://www.clair.or.jp/e/bestpractice/docs/2017fukuokac_e_r.pdf