Contemporary Currents in Japanese Machizukuri (Citizens Collaborative Community Improvements and Management) and Their Socio-Cultural Meanings

This paper studies the contemporary attempts of Japanese Machizukuri,Citizens Collaborative Community Improvement and Management,and their socio-cultural meanings in order to shed light on the sustainable planning approaches dealing with population ageing and decreasing.In recent years,as response measures for non-physical local issues such as environmental problems and welfare,and with the aim of further enhancing community-centred planning capabilities against a background of decentralisation in various fields and the establishment of civic society,new cooperative/collaborative-style planning theory is being deployed.Through this process,community improvement and management is becoming deeper,in terms of technology,systems,and technique.The study attempts to find out a solution to real-world problems-how to construct a comprehensive planning theory based on spatial and social challenges arising in modern civic communities,with local resources,social capital and systems that have resulted from such issues.It also seeks to show how to achieve a vision for the city as a whole by mutually compiling individual community improvement and management scenarios and programs,based on the autonomous determination and future vision of the organisations and residents that play leading roles in the community.

Central Government Issues Opinions to Strengthen and Improve Urban and Rural Community Governance

On Jun.12,2017,the Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on Strengthening and Improving the Urban and Rural Community Governance were issued.They put forward an overall goal in which by 2020 a multi-participator and co-governance urban and rural community governance system should have been formed that

Educational Improvement Science:The Art of the Improving Organization

Purpose:To advocate educational improvement science(EIS)as an emerging transdisciplinary field,I reflect on the three major pathways of educational advancement in human history,discern the misuses and pitfalls of reform,and theorize how education can be improved to better serve its mission.Design/Approach/Methods:Employing a multiperspectival approach,I critically re-examine educational reforms and improvements worldwide and conceptualize the emerging transdisciplinary field through an extensive literature review,etymological analysis,international comparisons,and socio-historical,-cultural and-philosophical reflections.Findings:In this paper,I advance the concept of neo-improvementalism for EIS by elucidating its philosophical assumptions,disciplinary fundamentals,and theoretical frameworks through historical and comparative lenses.I identify and construct disciplinary knowledge of EIS comprising two categories,namely,subject matter knowledge and profound knowledge,adopted from improvement science.I then highlight three methodological approaches of EIS and the building of professional improvement communities empowering individual and institutional improvement capabilities.I propose that EIS is the art of the improving organization for classes,schools,and/or more broadly defined educational agencies.Originality/Value:This study recognizes the significance of EIS and research thereon,especially discipline-building and exploration based on local characteristics in a global vision,and the cultivation of new frontiers of educational research and practices.