The Human Touch
Recent seminars and related engagements
Liaison Meeting for Municipal Facility Management, etc. in Toyama
Following the Tokyo conference in February of this year, I had the opportunity to speak at the Liaison Meeting for Municipal Facility Management, etc., held in Toyama City on August 1-2, 2024.
The theme this time was 'The Potential of Public Space from the Perspective of Urban Management.' It's something I always talk about and thought I understood, but when I tried to speak based on my own experience, it was surprisingly difficult.
Because the deadline for submitting materials was early, I organized my thoughts on note and prepared and submitted materials titled 'Bonds with the Town: Breaking Away from Short-sighted Total Volume Reduction and Playing House,' but I still felt a sense of unease until a week before the event.
In the midst of this, footage of athlete Uta Abe crying after losing her first match at the Paris Olympics was broadcast on television. Some people seem to be criticizing her for some reason, but there is no way a top-tier athlete with this much experience and who has survived such high-stakes situations would not know the 'proper etiquette,' and the 'importance of maintaining a dignified attitude' is not something for someone on the sidelines who has never done it to say.
When I saw this, I felt a sense of reflection: 'Have I ever bet on something this much?' and 'Am I doing enough that I could cry like this when a project or town I'm involved in doesn't go well?' At the same time, I felt envious of Uta Abe for being able to cry openly in such a place, and I felt that she has a wonderful life.
Even through the screen, the 'human touch' came across, and I realized that 'Are you doing enough to cry over it?' might be the very essence of the management challenge.
Blaming the mayor, the assembly, vested interests, personnel transfers, finances, laws... In the end, aren't we just throwing a tantrum, making excuses, and justifying why we aren't doing (not that we can't do) things? That's why there's no heart or soul in it, it's inorganic, and isn't that why the town is declining? In my presentation that day, by centering on 'the human touch' and 'are you doing enough to cry over it?' (using many photos and supplementary slides), I think it really resonated.
Public FM Fes 2024 in Shiwa
The Public FM Fes 2024 in Shiwa, held the following week (August 6-7, 2024), was an intense event that, like the legendary rock event BEAT CHILD, 'leaves no record but remains in memory.' This was the third time for this talk event in a battle-of-the-bands format. While Nippon Kanzai Co., Ltd. hosts it and I handle the planning and selection of members, this time we were able to hold it in Shiwa Town, the holy land of this world.
There were no prior meetings or scripts, and it was a venue-integrated, 'completely unreproducible' space using Slido. Once again, it was a great success, with an explosion of information and passion that was not easily digested. However, I believe the big keyword was 'human touch,' where the people doing the work and the projects were linked. As I will explain later, this was proven by the town walk held on the second day.
Linking with the town ≒ human touch?
What does it mean to link with a town?
Public assets (public facilities, infrastructure) are, of course, located within a 'town.' Nevertheless, in almost all municipal public facility management-related plans (comprehensive management plans for public facilities, individual facility plans, facility reorganization plans, etc.), only the facilities owned by the government are plotted on the map.
In Nagareyama City, where I used to work, when I first formulated the plan, the key was 'what can be done by the private sector should be left to the private sector.' Therefore, for things that seemed to have a high potential for cooperation and role-sharing with the private sector, I plotted all similar private facilities as well. However, (perhaps because it became a hassle, or perhaps because they abandoned that way of thinking), in the revised plan, only public facilities are covered.
With this, you cannot even grasp the state of the town visually, even in a two-dimensional world, and there is no way you can link with the town.
Bad projects ≒ inorganic
In the only external administrative committee for a town that I currently participate in, various projects are proposed every time by the facility management department (and in most cases, consultants who are paid large commissions). At one meeting, a case was presented to install a public facility in a privately owned building in front of the station for political reasons (promises). Since the proposal was made while even the person in charge could not find its significance or value, there was no possibility of it moving in a good direction.
In a consultation I received from a certain municipality, the progress rate of a land readjustment project in front of the station, which had been worked on for a very long time, remained in the 40% range, and there seemed to be no path forward. Moreover, since it was a city-implemented project, the person in charge was just waiting for personnel transfers every few years, and no one was seriously trying to move it forward. Because the land readjustment project is still ongoing, it is difficult to set up mortgage rights, and landowners cannot fully utilize their own land as real estate, physically hindering the liquidity of the real estate. As a result, it was exposing a sadly desolate appearance despite being in front of the station.
Even in the city-owned land utilization project at Nagareyama-otakanomori Station North Exit, which I was involved in at the end of my time as a public servant, by focusing only on 'developing a hall with zero financial burden on the city,' it did not become something that would improve the value of the area.
What these have in common is that they are things that 'try to fix only the superficial form, doing it because they were told to,' and they are inorganic things that do not try to think about the organic link with the town and the lives of the people involved in it.
Making it inorganic ourselves
We must not forget that it is not someone else, but we ourselves, who are degrading these into inorganic box-building (and infrastructure development) projects.
It becomes inorganic because we proceed without asking ourselves 'what do we want to do?' by throwing away precious taxpayer money without thinking while lacking professionalism, relying on formal project method comparison tables thrown at consultants, short-sighted VFM, citizen workshops that are like playing house without presenting given conditions such as financial constraints, and aerial-warfare expert committees.
Because human thoughts and passion do not dwell there, it becomes something without temperature or skin sensation, and because we put it out to general competitive bidding that is cheap and bad without being able to imagine the faces and proper names of the people who will be involved in the future, or do formal proposals with no risk and no return for our own convenience and self-protection that are close to specification ordering, serious and passionate people who would bet on it will not participate.
Moreover, because it falls into the structure of becoming a liability immediately upon completion, that box-building just sits in the town, exposing an inorganic appearance that is loved by no one and loves no one.
Because we are inorganic, the town also becomes inorganic.
In the town of Shiwa
Ogal
I have visited Ogal many times before, but each time I make new discoveries and feel many things. This time, I was given a tour of the facility for the first time in a while, and what I felt once again was that everyone involved here was happily talking about 'what they are doing and what they want to do in the future' in their own words. When I asked the members of the Regional Revitalization Cooperation Squad, who provided the food for the social gathering, why they came to Shiwa Town, they replied with a beaming smile, 'Because it looks fun, and it really is fun!' What is even more surprising is that the level of each individual piece of content and dream is extremely high and creative. The fact that the people involved at the Shiwa Town Hall also unanimously say that 'every day is fun' is amazing; it is precisely because such people are involved that human passion dwells everywhere, and that energy can provide a fulfilling time and space for visitors as well.
Hizume Shopping Street
Hizume Shopping Street, which Shiwa Town is working on in tandem with Ogal. I have visited here many times as well, but this time, in the form of a town walk, I was able to hear many firsthand voices from those involved in this area.
I was able to hear stories from Mr. Takasui of Fujiya Cafeteria, Mr. Nanjo of YOKOZAWA CAMPUS, and the Hirai family (I was so absorbed in tasting and buying sake that I forgot to exchange business cards, oops), and what they all had in common was that they are developing independent and autonomous businesses while maintaining a connection with the local government, they have a very high public spirit, and they perceive the town in their own words and from their own perspectives. And because these perspectives are each diverse, they likely give the town a multi-layered depth and form a complex gradation. Once again, the fact that you can feel the 'scent of people' that is unique to Shiwa Town and Hizume Shopping Street is directly linked to its charm and is likely what attracts people. 'The People of Hizume Shopping Street,' created in collaboration with Iwate Prefectural University, is a symbol of this.
Examples from across the country
Nagareyama City: Otakanomori Station North Exit
At the north exit of Nagareyama Otakanomori Station, which I introduced as an inorganic example, 'N-Machi Design,' a group of volunteers from the Nagareyama City Hall, holds regular markets with local players they built themselves without relying on tax money at all, and little by little, the 'scent of people' is beginning to dwell there. Originally, this 'scent of people' should have been cultivated from the planning stage of the development project in this area, but since a town is always a work in progress, it is never too late.
Daito City: morineki
morineki is highly regarded as a project that 'increases the value of an area starting from the redevelopment of public housing' rather than 'rebuilding public housing as a single point' (of course, I also think it is a fantastic project). As I wrote in the note above the other day, unfortunately, the second phase of the project was rejected (likely due to political factors) on the grounds that 'the first phase has not been verified' and 'projects funded by the city are not public-private partnership projects,' but the value of this project will not be denied by such things.
If you actually visit morineki and spend some time there, the value of this project will be clear to anyone. As shown in the video above, it is clear that this is not just a facility development project, but a place that has the 'scent of people'.
Toyama City: Castle Park / Hachi Marche
Aiming to utilize the former Hachinin-cho Elementary School, we are adopting a methodology that is not based on conventional patterns, but rather on 'going out into the town, forming hypotheses, clarifying a vision, and improving area value while expanding the circle of empathy.' By connecting the town's community through dogs and children, we are trying to discover a 'comfortable, cozy daily life—a hideaway in the city,' which is truly a 'scent of people' rather than just a box, from the provisional hypothesis and future image of Hachi Marche.
Miyazaki City_Creating Places for Children
In Miyazaki City, to create places for junior and senior high school students, a service was launched that allows local students to use private co-working spaces for free on weekends and holidays.
Initially, this was considered as a development of a public facility as a 'box,' but after listening to the raw voices of the students, it was found that they wanted a place that was 'stylish, had Wi-Fi, and served drinks,' and that they felt a mental and cultural distance from traditional public facilities. Therefore, we decided to provide such a space in collaboration with ATOMica.
Perhaps due to the influence of Mayor Kiyoyama's ability to communicate, it has boasted a very high utilization rate since its launch. It is not just a 'place to study,' but a place that is being asked how it can expand and evolve as 'their own place while interacting with adults (being conscious of each other's distance).' Here, too, the 'scent of people' is the keyword.
The Scent of People
Making it Ourselves
I have introduced various projects, but the common thread among them is that they are not all outsourced to consultants, nor are they dictated by external expert committees, but are being 'made by ourselves' in the first person.
Because we make it ourselves, our own thoughts and feelings are directly embedded in it. It may not be beautiful or sophisticated, but that is where the 'scent of people' comes from.
No Goal
And projects with this 'scent of people' have no goal.
In conventional inorganic box-building projects, the completion date becomes the goal, and all resources are exhausted there (the soul is drained), so the completion date, which should be the starting point, becomes the end date. In that sense, mocking them as 'gravestones' might be disrespectful to the gravestones where the souls of ancestors sleep.
On the other hand, projects with a 'scent of people' are required to constantly link with the town while maintaining economic rationality, so they are a work in progress and you cannot let your guard down for even a moment. Managing this is not the job of AI, consultants, politicians, or local influential figures, but of the people who actually take responsibility for the project. This tension also leads to the scent of people.
Such projects with a 'scent of people' are created by 'people.' Therefore, 'who you partner with' is important, and even from this perspective, it is not the time to be doing general competitive bidding targeting 'cheap people' or proposals based on requirement specifications that have become the greatest common denominator so that 'anyone will do.'
I will explain this in detail in another note, but if each town truly pursues projects that have a 'scent of people,' private proposal systems with negotiated contract guarantees and business partner methods will become the mainstream from now on. (At the same time, all wasteful outsourcing such as feasibility studies and advisory service contracts will be able to be redirected to the project's original funding.)
Are you doing it until you cry?
For there to be a 'scent of people,' it is a prerequisite that the stakeholders pour that much passion into the project.
As I wrote at the beginning, the reason athlete Uta Abe cried so hard is likely because she had bet more than those around her could ever imagine. It is easy to criticize, and anyone can just watch from the sidelines, get involved a little, and make excuses or blame someone (or society) if things don't go well. If you are doing it with that mindset, you won't even 'cry,' and experiential knowledge will not be accumulated within yourself or the town.
By the time you are pandering to your boss or the assembly, patching up only the surface, outsourcing everything to consultants, having expert committees speak for you, or worrying about the boring, superficial critiques of armchair critics who don't do the actual work, it has become nothing more than 'mere inorganic work,' and the soul, heat, and thoughts
are not embedded, so you will not be able to get angry or cry (or be able to) when things don't go well.
In an irrational administration and a socio-economic situation and town that are changing at an intense speed, things rarely go as originally expected. Even if you start well, if you rest on your laurels and neglect your efforts, you will fall in no time.
I understand that it is difficult, but if you face the town seriously and fall into a situation where you feel despair, it is important to 'cry your heart out,' calmly organize where the bottleneck was, and work toward a comeback.
Since the town is always a work in progress, there is always a chance to correct the course somewhere. Even if you cry, if you don't give up, the experiential knowledge you gained there could become the starting point for a breakthrough.
And this article ended up overlapping completely with this note lol
I could cry lol (not quite to the point of sobbing)
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