In commemoration of launching of “Building Regulation for Resilience” project, World Bank Disaster Risk Management Hub, Tokyo, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) jointly held a technical roundtable on January 28, 2016.

The Building Regulations for Resilience is to develop a roadmap to make the living environment safer to disaster risks through implementation of appropriate building regulation. Japan has an extensive history of devastating earthquake disasters, and one of the world’s most compelling experience over a century in developing effective building codes, land use planning and governance systems that significantly contributed to making Japan as one of the most resilient countries in the world. Through this experience, the proposed project will contribute to share relevant Japanese experience, particularly how Japan has improved building regulation compliance rate during the high economic growth period, when building supply increased steeply. The relevant experience would inform urban resilience projects in countries facing similar challenges, in order to address factors that have accelerated effective implementation of building regulations for disaster risk reduction.

Japanese experts from MLIT, JICA and National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS) were invited to:

• Share Japanese historical experience of increasing building resilience through comprehensive approach that includes: legal framework, policies, financing mechanism, multi-stakeholder capacity building and private sector engagement;
• Share relevant international assistance experience and lessons learned from long-standing experience of JICA, particularly focusing on human capacity development which is essential to implement building regulation; and
• Discuss the appropriate approach to share these experience with developing countries that face ongoing challenges.

At the opening of the session, Dr. Joe Leitmann, Lead Disaster Risk Management Specialist of Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) highlighted the value of improved building regulatory system in the context of Urban Resilience, one of the GFDRR’s thematic pillars that Building Regulation for Resilience sits. Thomas Moullier, Senior Regulatory Development Specialist, GFDRR presented the Bank’s relevant work to date, and illustrated challenges on the ground and objectives of the project, followed by a discussion session moderated by Keiko Sakoda Kaneda, Disaster Risk Management Specialist, DRM Hub.

Mr. Yukiyasu Kamemura, Director for International Building Analysis, Building Guidance Division, Housing Bureau, MLIT provided historical transition in relevant policies and results of building regulation compliance, while Professor Shoichi Ando, GRIPS presented Japanese historical efforts in making building code resilient to disasters, starting from the first building code in Japan in 1919.

Dr. Tatsuo Narafu, Senior Advisor to JICA and Mr. Yukinari Hosokawa from Global Environment Department, JICA, shared JICA’s long-standing oversea assistance experience and lessons learned particularly in human capacity development in strong or resilient buildings.

Participants continued active and passionate discussion to consolidate the Japanese domestic and international experience for increasing building resilience through appropriate regulatory framework and its implementation mechanism.