Community-led urban transformation project as transdisciplinary approach: Case of Senboku Hottokenai Network Project

This study examined the community-led urban transformation project as a transdisciplinary approach in Senboku New Town (Senboku-NT). The research method employed a combination of case study and action research methodologies. In Senboku-NT, the population declined from approximately 170,000 to 115,000, and older adults account for 37.1% of the total population. The demographic change made it difficult for older people to live in Senboku-NT. Due to regional problems, local communities began to explore community-led urban transformation projects. The “Senboku Hottokenai Network Project” is a project in which vacant building stocks were gradually transformed into neighborhood healthcare facilities, including supportive housing for older people, a group home for people with disabilities, and a community restaurant. The urban transformations of the Senboku Hottokenai Network Project may have triggered those in the entire Senboku NT. Our main conclusions indicate the effectiveness of community-led urban transformation projects in old New Towns. The results of this study shed new light on the importance of community-led co-creation among multiple stakeholders as transdisciplinary projects toward the Healthy New Town. Our insight provides the need to implement a new movement program to extend the urban transformation project for the Healthy New Town to other old New Towns in East Asia.