Tokyo Metropolitan Government has released (September 2014) an interim consultation document on its long term strategy to become “the world’s best city”. The interim report, with a final version due before the end of 2014, consists of two basic goals: holding the most successful Olympic/Paralympic games ever in 2020, and use this as a catalyst for further development while leaving a lasting legacy; and overcoming the multitude of challenges (a shrinking and ageing population) and work towards sustainable development.
The report suggests that the 2020 Olympics can be used to establish a “volunteer culture” in the capital, with 10,000 new volunteers, as well as 3,000 tourism volunteers, 1,000 goodwill ambassadors and over 30,000 language aides leading to a volunteering rate of 40% of Tokyo’s population by 2024.
The ‘Tokyo Long Term Vision’ also sets out how the metropolitan government can promote economic revitalization by encouraging start-ups and new businesses at the same rate as in the UK and US. It also contains measures to encourage more female participation in the labour force, moving on from the current trend of women only working before and after raising a family, with an employment rate of 75% for women aged 24-44 by 2020. It also aims to increase the availability of childcare and support for after school clubs, as well as boost provision of special residential care for the elderly.
Resilience in the capital will also be increased by encouraging individual households to stockpile emergency supplies in case of a disaster, as well as measures to ensure the safety of commuters affected by natural disasters (e.g. increasing facilities to take care of workers unable to return home, in particular by the private sector but also use this to stimulate the local economy).
The vision document also aims to manage the development of the Yurakucho area (site of the former metropolitan government headquarters) by improving local public spaces and creating an internationally competitive environment for conferences and exhibitions (MICE). Finally, the new plan aims to ensure that Tokyo becomes a world class tourist destination, tripling its visitor number share (to 18m annually) by 2024, leveraging the city’s brand to strengthen tourism promotion, as well as developing new tourism resources, including boosting multilingual language provision and Wi-Fi networks.
