Public Participation In Urban Governance

In 1900 (Meiji 33 years), Japan promulgated the first law on waste management-The Waste Sweep Law. In addition to traditional approach of waste disposal-landfill, this law proposed the dualistic mode of waste disposal, combining both incineration and landfill. In 1970 (Showa 45 years), "the Pollution Congress" formally repealed the Sweep Law, which aimed for sanitation. The new enacted Waste Disposal and Sweep law gave prominence to the environmental protection besides sanitation and public health. And then promulgated in 2000, The Basic Law for Establishing a Sound Material-Cycle Society nailed down the objectives of waste management-reduction, reuse, and recycling.From "correctly disposal" and "environmental protection", to "resource recycles", waste management concept of Japan has been gradually enlarged and enriched. Waste Management is no longer a purely technical or environmental protection problem, but an issue of urban governance which should be re-examined and studied from the perspective of public participation.Public participation is one of the core ideas in urban governance. It includes both the top to bottom governmental institutions of public participation, and the bottom-up public participation practice. This thesis takes the city of Yokohama, Japan, as a case study, conducting analysis of public participation in municipal waste management institution design and practice and then discusses the necessity and possibility of public participation, specifically, the significance and approach of public participation in urban governance.