Changing perceptions and conservation policies on agricultural lands remaining in Japanese mid-sized cities

Urban Farm DB summary

This 2021 study analyzed 13 municipalities in regional (non-metropolitan) Japan that operate the production green space (seisan ryokuchi) system, examining how changing perceptions of the value of farmland within urbanization-promotion areas led to expanded designation of production green space. It found that rising tax burdens on farmland in urbanization-promotion areas triggered the spread of production green space designation even in regional cities. It also found that, beyond this economic factor, the 2015 enactment of the Basic Act for the Promotion of Urban Agriculture prompted a movement to assign farmland new roles and values—such as land for disaster-prevention cooperation and sites for food and farming experience—which further contributed to the expansion of designation.