Model City Selected for Landscape Area Renovation
Overview
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism selected Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, as the model city for the Landscape Area Renovation Program, established following amendments to the Landscape Act. Around Minami-Toyama Station, Toyama City will explore private businesses for collaborative projects, consider public-private partnership approaches, and promote local consensus-building to restore landscapes that enrich daily life and convert buildings for uses that leverage the area’s role as a hub. Additional model cities and updates on the progress of these efforts are also planned.
Key points
- The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism selected Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, as a model city for the Landscape Area Renovation Program.
- Around Minami-Toyama Station, the initiative aims to restore landscapes that enrich daily life and convert buildings for uses that leverage the area’s role as a hub.
- The initiative will explore private businesses to conduct collaborative projects, consider approaches to public-private partnership, and promote local consensus-building.
- The government plans to add model cities and share progress on the efforts with local governments and private businesses.
Overview
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism established the Landscape Area Renovation Program, also known as the Landscape Restoration Program, following the amendment to the Landscape Act promulgated on May 27, 2026. Based on the results of applications from across Japan, it selected Toyama City as a model city and will provide pioneering, hands-on support for area-wide landscape restoration.
The area around Minami-Toyama Station has developed a landscape shaped by the station-front shopping street and residential neighborhoods. However, aging and lifestyle changes have led to vacant houses and vacant storefronts, and community activity is gradually being lost.
Impact
Under the program, private companies and other entities designated as landscape improvement promotion corporations can enter into agreements with owners of buildings and other properties, carry out renovations and adaptive reuse on the owners’ behalf, and work to restore the landscape.
In Toyama City, the area needs to restore community activity within the existing townscape and regenerate a hub that harmonizes with the new station-front landscape.
Details
The program targets areas where attractive landscapes have been damaged by aging buildings and other factors. Private companies and other entities designated as landscape improvement promotion corporations conclude agreements with owners based on landscape plans. They then renovate and adaptively reuse buildings and other properties by leveraging private-sector expertise.
As the reconstruction of the station plaza and other facilities progresses, private businesses and local organizations have begun initiatives such as the temporary use of distinctive existing buildings. These developments create an opportunity to restore community activity within the existing townscape and regenerate a hub that harmonizes with the new station-front landscape.
Going forward, the initiative will explore businesses and other entities that could become landscape improvement promotion corporations, build local consensus, and examine the business plan and landscape plan.
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