The Transition Towards Sustainable and Resilient Cities—Urban Challenges and Solutions in Germany and Japan

Abstract

In 2015 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a set of Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations 2017a). For the first time in history, sustainable urban development was unanimously acknowledged as a central objective of the global community. The New Urban Agenda adopted in Quito in October 2016 can be understood as a basic document to translate the Sustainable Development Goals into the urban and regional context (United Nations 2017b). It will serve as a point of reference for urban planners and managers, strongly influencing urban development worldwide over the coming 20 years. Therefore, the demonstration of good examples in different contexts and under distinct development conditions will be of utmost importance. As two nations with mature economies and aging societies, Japan and Germany face a number of common challenges to environmentally sustainable and resilient urban development. Both have given special consideration to such issues in the past, and have established related policies at all levels of government such as the “FutureCity Initiative” in Japan and the “Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda on the City of the Future” in Germany. Furthermore, both countries have vast experience in actively promoting urban transformation. In this way they are rather unique from a global perspective while simultaneously serving as forerunners in finding solutions to challenges which other countries will have to face in the near future. In this sense, Japan and Germany can be highly instructional cases to help the international community realize the Quito Implementation Plan of the New Urban Agenda.