Declared the biggest and best ever by organisers, the 2015 Rugby World Cup saw a flurry of visits to London by Japanese Host Cities during the final week of the tournament, eager to learn from the capital for their own staging of the games in 2019. Among these were visits by Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe and an 11-strong cross-party delegation of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly.
Visiting a number of sites across the capital and team bases elsewhere during their stay, the Tokyo Assembly group were hosted at London City Hall by Assembly Chair Jenette Arnold and Environment Committee chair Darren Johnson, both of whom have served on the assembly since its creation in 2000 and led on the scrutiny of all key plans and policies for the London 2012 Games. As well as the recent staging of the two major sporting events in London, the meeting discussed education and housing as two policy areas which both capital city assemblies could share inter-city learning in future to guide strategy to meet the needs of their growing populations.
The meeting also discussed the expectant needs of how global cities are governed and raise finance in an era of decentralisation and it was here where recent research shared between both city assemblies through JLGC came into focus.
Darren Johnson AM, chair of the assembly’s Devolution Working Group, whose recent report drew on JLGC’s case study of Tokyo and also that of New York, said: “Cities are taking the lead on many of the big challenges we face today, so I always welcome talking with and learning from representatives of other major world cities. I believe London could do far more to tackle problems like its housing crisis and climate change if it enjoyed the same level of devolved powers and funding as Tokyo.”
Having just published its own research for Tokyo Metropolitan Government and other Japanese cities on urban governance in London since the creation of the GLA in 2000, JLGC looks forward to future knowledge exchange which will further the inter-city learning promoted before and during this visit and more widely between 2015 and 2019 Rugby World Cup Host Cities.
