A Study on Perceptions of "Community <i>Hiroba</i> " in Kyoto city by the Managers and Local Residents

Abstract

The research program underlying this paper is to inquire forms of community-led management of small open spaces. Small open spaces can be one of the key factors to develop social capitals of the local communities, not only because they provide places for the people to gather and interact, but also because the community’s collective action to create better open spaces can make the community resilient. As a case study, the present paper deals with “Community Hiroba”, small open spaces designed and managed by local communities in Kyoto city. It is aimed to assemble a picture of the usage and the management of the open spaces through, 1) field surveys and interviews to their managers, and 2) questionnaire survey to the local residents regarding the “Community Hiroba” in their neighborhood. The interviews to the managers show that half of them feel difficulty in finding their successors in younger generations. As a result of the analysis of the questionnaire survey, some factors of which improvement may encourage local residents to participate the management of the open spaces are found. The most significant factor among them is found to be the willingness to participate events in the open space, while other factors including social capital of the residents and the degree of recognition about the open space are also found to have positive effects on the local residents’ willingness to take part in the management of the open spaces.