Land is a precious resource. For a country like Japan, whose territory is approximately 378,000 square kilometers, with dense forests and mountain terrain covering about 70 percent of its land, innovative and good practice approaches to land use and urban management are essential for its residents’ well-being and livelihoods. Schemes like resilient, compact and smart cities are some of the approaches helping Japan do just this.
To raise visibility of this critical topic and share best practices for strengthening land systems, the World Bank’s Tokyo Development Learning Center (TDLC) participated in the Land Conference 2025 at World Bank Headquarters in Washington, D.C., from May 5-8, 2025. There, over 1,000 participants from 70 countries explored 57 sessions on topics including e-governance, standards, urbanization, land management, women’s rights, and energy—shaping new perspective on how access to land can drive job creation and economic transformation.
On Monday, May 5, the TDLC hosted the session “Shaping Space: Responding to Economic and Demographic Evolution through Land Use and Urban Management", in which Government representatives from Japan, Bhutan, and Thailand showcased and contrasted their national and municipal strategies. Over 100 attendees gained valuable insight from the Japanese approach to land use, urban renewal, and sustainable development—issues currently being shaped by an evolving economy, aging population, and environmental challenges. A deeper understanding of how Asian countries are adapting to similar challenges was gained by contrasting the Japanese, Thai and Bhutanese experiences.
Japan’s Resilient, Compact, and Smart Cities
Although the global population is not expected to peak for about 60 years, countries in Asia, including Japan, Thailand, and Bhutan are already grappling with the consequences of declining fertility rates, aging populations, and outmigration. To shed more light on these perplexing issues, four Japanese presenters shared the country’s long history and varied experiences with national and municipal level land management policies.
Framing the situation was Hideaki Imamura, World Bank Executive Director for Japan and Norihisa Shima, Associate Professor, Department of Regional Development Studies, Toyo University. Each gave context to Japan’s transformation through an account of policies from the end of WWII to the present.
“Japanese cities are being challenged not just in terms of productivity and economic growth, but also in service delivery and social cohesion”, said Mr. Imamura. Japan is at the forefront of an aging and declining population, which is closely tied to its urban planning and land management practices, he added. The Japanese economic miracle was marked by rapid industrial growth and organization and land readjustment techniques. Today, however, changing demographics are forcing Japan to search for and implement new ways to adapt to the future.
Norihisa Shima surveyed Japan’s impressive history of economic and demographic evolution through its urban development institutional framework. The Japanese Miricle from 1950-1970 represented rapid economic growth through industrialization and a growing middle class. The 1968 City Planning Law marked the beginning of Japan’s strong institutional framework for urban land management, which subsequently has been built upon with the 1980 District Plan, 1992 Municipal Master Plan, and a series of institutional revisions beginning in 2000 called the Area Division System.
To illustrate policy transformational impacts, Mr Shima visually represented how Japan’s population increased from 1970 levels to a peak in 2010, will recede back to 1970 levels by 2040. Similarly, he demonstrated how Japan’s cities are now dispersed and inefficient. A shift from policies from urbanization control to policies for urban revitalization is reorganizing city structures and populations through strategic public transport—resulting in revitalized city centers, controlled urban sprawl, and repurposed abandoned spaces.
Presenting the real-world, municipal experience was Mayor Kizo Hisamoto, City of Kobe, and Mayor Hirohisa Fujii, City of Toyama.
“Kobe aims to become a sustainable, nature friendly, and livable city”, said Mayor Hisamoto. After the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake, city policies focused on disaster-resilient urban development, including the building of a high-capacity water main to make the city more resilient. Now, with the population in decline since 2012, transformational policy shifts include the revitalization of existing infrastructure assets and balanced development among urban, suburban, and rural areas to ensure the sustainable growth of the city.
Similarly, Toyama City faces challenges due to a declining and aging population, as well as urban sprawl, climate change, and high administration costs. Its solution combines two approaches—being a compact city and a smart city. A compact city approach centered on public transportation will revitalize the city’s transport system and its city center. It will also promote living along the transport lines, reducing car traffic. By combining this with a smart city approach, digital technologies can be leveraged to build critical public and private services, and to connect the city government with its residents across the city. Mayor Fujii said he expects the urban planning scheme to create a virtuous cycle of tax revenue that will be reinvested in the city to enhance the quality of life, convenience, and create a vibrant community for all.
Asia: balancing progress with happiness
Japan is not alone in its land and urban development challenges. Across Asia, aging populations, decreasing fertility rates, and environmental challenges are sparking waves of new, transformational land management and use policies.
In Thailand for instance, an aging population and rural-to-urban migration are driving rapid urbanization, straining infrastructure, exacerbating inequality, and threatening environmental sustainability. Dr. Raweewan Bhuridej, Executive Secretary, Office of National Land Policy Board, Thailand explained how strategies are focused on land use mapping, verification of land tenure, new policy frameworks, and developing a national land and soil database. She also noted that as “a kitchen of the world”, Thailand must balance maintaining food security with stopping deforestation and increasing forest cover.
Tshering Gyaltshen Penjor, Secretary, National Land Commission, Bhutan described
how despite experiencing 60 years of social and economic progress, Bhutan is also facing low fertility rates and a declining workforce, impacting its economic stability. Policies to retain its talent pool and increase its population include a national spatial strategy. However, more uniquely, Mr. Penjor noted Bhutan’s philosophy of “gross national happiness” and its role in shaping the development of Bhutan’s flagship project, Gelephu Mindful City—Bhutan’s new economic hub that will capitalize on its proximity to the South Asia and Southeast Asia corridor.
In closing, Ming Zhang, Global Director for Urban, Resilience and Land Global Department at The World Bank Group underlined the linkages between land, demographic shifts, urbanization, and sustainable development, and the importance of shared experiences and lessons learned. He emphasized that land must be properly managed for the good of the environment, nature, and people.