This week JLGC’s Andrew Stevens is on the Guardian Local Leaders Network discussing how Japanese mayors function under local autonomy, and how the elected mayor model can lead to globally recognised low carbon and inclusive cities:
‘What can we learn from Japan’s mayoral system?’
Also on the theme of city leadership, last week the BBC News website cited JLGC in its examination of the powers of global city mayors, including Tokyo’s:
Another candidate for “most powerful” city leader is Tokyo’s governor, Naoki Inose. He is technically not a mayor, he acts as chief executive of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which is responsible for transport, secondary schools, hospitals, economic development, sewage and disaster management.
His budget of £41bn ($63bn) is nearly the same as Bloomberg’s but his powers are more far-reaching and he governs twice the number of people.
Plus, according to the Japan Local Government Centre in London, only 7% of his revenue comes from central government, the smallest proportion compared to any other world city, including New York which receives 31% of its cash from federal sources.
