Makoto Yokohari

Keep it alive, don’t freeze it: a conceptual perspective on the conservation of continuously evolving satoyama landscapes

In recent years, efforts to conserve and restore satoyama landscapes have become increasingly prevalent throughout Japan. These efforts have conserved threatened landscapes, protected biodiversity and engaged civil society in land-use planning and management. However, the conservation of satoyama continues to present a paradox familiar to landscape planners and ecologists: how can we conserve, but avoid freezing, landscapes of dynamic change? This article works through this paradox by examining the dynamic and continually evolving history of satoyama woodlands. The history of satoyama presented here demonstrates that these landscapes have been, and continue to be, produced in tandem with the evolving needs of successive generations. Accordingly, it is imperative to consider how satoyama landscapes might mesh with present day social needs and values. Faced with curbing global climate change, we suggest that present day social needs and values are well aligned with utilizing satoyama woodlands as a source of renewable biomass energy to reduce carbon emissions and realize associated multifunctional woodland values. Thus, the conceptual perspective advanced here is that resolution of the continuing conservation paradox lies in taking the freeze off satoyama woodlands—and by extension other vernacular landscapes—and thereby letting them live.

Utilizing international networks for accelerating research and learning in transformational sustainability science

A promising approach for addressing sustainability problems is to recognize the unique conditions of a particular place, such as problem features and solution capabilities, and adopt and adapt solutions developed at other places around the world. Therefore, research and teaching in international networks becomes critical, as it allows for accelerating learning by sharing problem understandings, successful solutions, and important contextual considerations. This article identifies eight distinct types of research and teaching collaborations in international networks that can support such accelerated learning. The four research types are, with increasing intensity of collaboration: (1) solution adoption; (2) solution consultation; (3) joint research on different problems; and (4) joint research on similar problems. The four teaching types are, with increasing intensity of collaboration: (1) adopted course; (2) course with visiting faculty; (3) joint course with traveling faculty; and (4) joint course with traveling students. The typology is illustrated by extending existing research and teaching projects on urban sustainability in the International Network of Programs in Sustainability, with partner universities from Europe, North America, Asia, and Africa. The article concludes with challenges and strategies for extending individual projects into collaborations in international networks.

Current organic waste recycling and the potential for local recycling through urban agriculture in Metro Manila.

Using the solid waste management programmes of three barangays (the smallest unit of local government in the Philippines) in Quezon City, Metro Manila, as a case study, this research aimed to further the development of efficient organic waste recycling systems through the promotion of urban agricultural activities on green and vacant spaces. First, the quantity of organic waste and compost produced through ongoing barangay projects was measured. The amount of compost that could potentially be utilized on farmland and vacant land within the barangays was then identified to determine the possibility of a local recycling system. The results indicate that, at present, securing buyers for compost is difficult and, therefore, most compost is distributed to large neighbouring farm villages. However, the present analysis of potential compost use within the barangay demonstrates that a more local compost recycling system is indeed feasible.

Restoring Urban Fringe Landscapes through Urban Agriculture: The Japanese Experience

Abstract This paper advocates the re-establishment of garden zones both in and around cities. Mixed land-use garden zones are conceptualized as spaces where urban residents can craft their own local food cultures and agro-biographies in response to the globalization of agriculture and food consumption. The case for creating garden zones is made by first outlining the legacy of post-war growth and planning policies, which attempted to clearly demarcate the line between urban and agricultural use. And, second, investigating the current demographic shifts which threaten the existence of domestic agricultural production and necessitate a new pro-urban agriculture planning paradigm. To develop this new planning paradigm, the third section looks back at the city of Edo to identify the urban agricultural heritage of what is now the modern-day megalopolis of Tokyo. The fourth section demonstrates the need for multifunctional green spaces by presenting a number of examples of agro-activities in both urban and suburban areas of the greater Tokyo area. The final section concludes the paper with a discussion of the need for a new type of garden zone: a hybrid zone where the mixing of urban and agricultural uses is encouraged.

Commerce and Conservation: An Asian Approach to an Enduring Landscape, Ohmi‐Hachiman, Japan

The historic region of Ohmi‐Hachiman, located in central Japan, is an example of a Continuing Landscape in an Asian setting. With a differing perspective on what may constitute authenticity, a planning exercise is now underway looking for a sustainable future for the city and surrounding countryside that is both a popular tourist attraction and a working agricultural area. Ohmi‐Hachiman combines two areas ICOMOS has declared as under‐represente d—an Asia heritage site and an agricultural landscape. This region is a Japanese case study that shares many planning and policy traditions with the West. It is the product of a long industrialised and developed nation, yet the site is quintessentially Asian with rice paddies and small villages sharing an ethos with the rest of this part of the world. It is an ethos that includes a philosophical and practical approach to this Japanese Continuing Landscape which dramatically diverges from conventional Western practices and challenges the accepted ideas of authenticity. It is an approach worthy of close scrutiny by those overseeing heritage landscapes in the rest of the world who may also be facing the uncomfortable clash of commerce and conservation.

Landscape Planning for Resilient Cities in Asia: Lessons from Integrated Rural–Urban Land Use in Japan

Rural and urban landscape components have traditionally maintained a clear separation in the morphology of European cities. In contrast, the historical landscape of Edo Japan consists of mixed rural and urban land uses, due in part to a period of relative peace that rendered contained and fortified cities redundant. Despite European and Japanese cities having very different historical drivers of their resultant urban forms, modern landscape planning discourses in both regions have shifted toward a common aim for a clear rural–urban separation. However, prevailing socioeconomic factors (associated mainly with farmers’ rights) that have sustained the mixed urban–rural pattern of Japanese landscapes resulted in a partial uptake of the modern landscape planning morphology. Instead of labeling the resultant “chaotic” urban–rural mix characteristic of modern Japanese landscapes as a “failure,” one could instead draw lessons for a better future. The initial motivator for separating the rural from the urban landscape in modern landscape planning was to limit chaotic urban expansion. However, there has been increasing recognition that cities of today have to be resilient to new challenges, such as the increased instances of extreme events. This chapter makes the case that a city with an integrated rural–urban landscape is ideal for increasing urban resilience to natural disasters. The historical Japanese landscape could, ironically, function as an urban-planning model that ensures the functional connectivity needed for food security and simultaneously ensures the provision of adequate, accessible green spaces.

Biowaste Reuse Through Composting: The Response of Barangay Holy Spirit in Quezon City, Philippines, to Solid-Waste Management

Biowaste is the large volume of solid waste generated daily by households, and it presents environmental and health hazards if not reused. Composting is one of the best options for such reuse. This study documents biowaste generation and collection from households and reuse through composting in Barangay Holy Spirit, Quezon City, Philippines. This barangay (the smallest administrative unit) has made pioneering efforts in composting, having developed it from a simple process to a mechanized process. The barangay’s composting has been integrated with its vegetable and flower urban garden, which serves as a demonstration and training center on how to provide livelihood opportunities and environmental benefits. However, to enhance the compost’s marketability, issues relating to quality, such as the high organic carbon, high carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and low levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, need to be addressed. The barangay intends to boost compost production and sales, thereby increasing income, which can further improve the solid-waste management and increase staff salaries. Barangay Holy Spirit is one of the most developed barangays in terms of solid-waste management, and it can serve as a model for other barangays.

Field Survey Key Informant Interviews in Sustainability Science: Costa Rica’s PES Policy of Changing Focus from Quantity to Quality

This paper attempts to elucidate the current challenges to the implementation of Costa Rica’s Payments for Environmental Services (PES) for agroforestry. By interviewing important stakeholders in program implementation, the study found differing visions and priorities for agroforestry development in the country. PES for agroforestry was viewed by the government as a tool to increase the accessibility of PES to smallholders, as well as to generate forest cover in agricultural lands. However, agroforestry experts from the academia and private NGOs critizised the scheme for its narrow focus on increasing tree cover and minimal regard on the quality of agroforestry farms. In theory the main goal of PES is to ensure the sustainable provision of environmental services, but it has been argued that increasing tree cover alone does not necessarily guarantee service provision. To improve the situation a quantification of the services provided is needed, in order to implement a performance-based payment scheme. This would not only ensure that the program meets its goal of sustaining the environmental services provided by forests but will also satisfy the various concerns of multiple stakeholders.

Sustainability Science as the Next Step in Urban Planning and Design

The urban planning and design disciplines have repeatedly failed to build sustainable communities that are economically, environmentally, and socially viable and resilient. Sustainability science has the potential to be combined with the fields of urban planning and design, which primarily focus on the physical shape of the city, to develop new methodologies for building sustainable communities. To verify this, the present chapter aims to explore potential overlaps by identifying the field methodologies and focus of urban planners and designers, and that of sustainability scientists, through a multifaceted literature review. The narrative review carried out identified that methodologies applied within contemporary urban planning and design are not suitable to incorporate and solve underlying urban issues such as inequality or gentrification. The causes for this are likely related to the fundamental limitations present in urban planning, which has evolved from architecture, design, and engineering backgrounds that tend to have a specific vision of development predominantly dealing with design aspects and a focus on hard infrastructure. To overcome this issue, the authors discuss the potential role that sustainability science could play in opening up the field of urban planning and making it deal with underlying issues through the implementation of mixed methodologies (such as spatial analysis techniques, participatory tools, and qualitative or quantitative surveys) that can capture both the scientific reality and the contextual situation. Such mixed methods can provide a field researcher with broad problem identification tools, rather than focusing on specific physical and mostly morphological elements. In addition, the application of sustainability science could provide evidence for urban planning and design juries, inhabitants, and decision makers to make calculated long-term decisions. Essentially, the present chapter argues that sustainability science can shift the methodologies used within planning and design towards the use of scientifically-oriented methodologies that help decision-makers create sustainable communities.