1st Edition

Environmental Policy and Impact Assessment in Japan

    314 Pages
    by Routledge

    314 Pages
    by Routledge

    First published in 1991. Japanese attitudes to pollution and environmental protection were distinctly equivocal. The Japanese are a nature-loving people, yet they are responsible for widespread environmental destruction; Japan has some of the world’s strictest environmental quality standards, but the country also has some of the world’s most environmentally damaged areas. In this book the authors present a broad and detailed analysis of policy and process in Japan in the late twentieth century.

    Brendan Barrett and Riki Therivel, who both have extensive research experience in Japan, describe interest group participation in Japan’s environmental policy-making and give an historical review of the relationship between economic growth and environmental problems. They look at the framework for environmental policy-making and outline the system for environmental management. This is complemented by a discussion of Environmental Impact Assessment, and by live case studies of the practical realities of EIA in Japan.

    With environmental problems reaching global proportions, countries all over the world have much to learn from the experience of Japan, and the book will be extremely useful to national government officials, to local planning officers responsible for EIA, and to environmental consultants working for commercial and industrial companies. It will also be essential reading for students of geography, environmental studies, Japanese studies and planning economics.

    Figures;  Tables;  Preface;  Acknowledgements;  Abbreviations;  1. Introduction;  Part One: Environmental Policy;  2. Interest Groups  3. Environmental Problems  4. Environmental Management  5. Environmental Policy;  Part Two: Environmental Impact Assessment;  6. Development of Environmental Impact Assessment  7. Procedures for Environmental Impact Assessment  8. Critical Discussion of Environmental Impact Assessment in Japan;  Part Three: Case Studies;  9. Overview of the Case Studies  10. Honshu-Shikoku Road/Rail Bridges  11. Kansai International Airport  12. New Ishigaki Airport  13. Trans-Tokyo Bay Highway  14. Kyoto Second Outer Circular Route  15. Recommendations;  Appendices;  References;  Index

    Biography

    Riki Therivel, Brendan F. D. Barrett