Creating a knowledge-based region through policy integration and joint governance: the case of Kobe City in Kansai, Japan
by Kirsten Martinus
International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development (IJKBD), Vol. 4, No. 4, 2013

Abstract: This paper explores the knowledge-based development of Kobe, Kansai, from its top-down governance after WWII to an ideological shift which provided greater regional scope for location-specific strategies and decision-making. After the destruction of the 1996 Hanshin earthquake, Kobe trialled new greenfield planning methods to address social and industrial issues. It aimed to increase the policy integration of community, industry and leisure through a joint national knowledge-based development vision and bottom-up neighbourhood planning approach. By the 2000s, Kobe emerged as a competitive knowledge-based economy. This paper documents Kobe's changing governance approaches shaping the interplay between national, regional and local policy as well as perspectives of key regional stakeholders involved in policy implementation. It explores the impact Japan's top-down governance had on local industry development, and how this has gradually changed from one of total autocratic control to one of regional autonomy within nationally-coordinated guidelines. It is perhaps this evolution in governance flexibility that provided foundations for the successful development of Kobe's knowledge-based industry.

Online publication date: Mon, 31-Mar-2014

The full text of this article is only available to individual subscribers or to users at subscribing institutions.

 
Existing subscribers:
Go to Inderscience Online Journals to access the Full Text of this article.

Pay per view:
If you are not a subscriber and you just want to read the full contents of this article, buy online access here.

Complimentary Subscribers, Editors or Members of the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Knowledge-Based Development (IJKBD):
Login with your Inderscience username and password:

Username:        Password:          Forgotten your password?

Want to subscribe?
A subscription gives you complete access to all articles in the current issue, as well as to all articles in the previous three years (where applicable). See our Orders page to subscribe.

If you still need assistance, please email subs@inderscience.com