No.126 Establishment of the "Infrastructure Maintenance Mayors' Conference"

In our country, social infrastructure was concentrated and developed during the period of rapid economic growth. In recent years, the aging of infrastructure such as roads, bridges, tunnels, and the Sewerage Division has been accelerating, leading to accidents and disasters that have become social issues. In December 2012, a tragic accident occurred when a concrete ceiling panel fell in the Sasago Tunnel on the Chuo Expressway, resulting in the loss of many lives.
This incident prompted legal reforms and a shift in awareness from reactive maintenance to preventive maintenance.
Infrastructure is essential for our daily lives and economic activities, and its aging is a matter of human life, making the proper implementation of maintenance extremely important.

In January 2013, the national government established the "Social Infrastructure Deterioration Countermeasures Conference" and began discussions across relevant ministries. In November 2016, the "Infrastructure Maintenance National Conference" was established with the participation of industry, government, academia, and citizens who agreed with its purpose.
Since its establishment, the National Conference has been active in various fields, including the development of innovative maintenance technologies, support for local governments managing infrastructure, training of engineers, requests for securing financial resources, and public awareness campaigns.
We, local governments, bear part of the responsibility for infrastructure development. However, until now, we have been focused on responding to the ever-increasing administrative demands and expanding infrastructure, leaving little room for maintenance. Furthermore, in the context of the end of the high economic growth period, the collapse of the bubble economy, and ongoing administrative reforms, significant challenges such as budget constraints, a shortage of technical staff, and difficulties in knowledge transfer have arisen.

Therefore, to support the discussions at the National Conference and to work in collaboration with relevant ministries, including the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, we have decided to establish the "Infrastructure Maintenance Mayors' Conference," where mayors of municipalities with a strong interest in infrastructure maintenance will become members themselves.
I have been appointed as the block secretary candidate for the Kanto block out of the nine blocks nationwide. At the General Assembly of the 2021 Infrastructure Maintenance National Conference held at Tokyo Big Sight on December 8 last year, I conveyed the policy for the establishment of the Mayors' Conference, and after subsequent preparations, we were able to hold the establishment ceremony on April 28 of this year.
Out of a total of 1,741 municipalities nationwide, approximately 40%, or 690 mayors (as of March 31), have participated, and I have the honor of being appointed as the national representative secretary along with the Kanto block secretary.

In the future, we will work in collaboration with the National Conference and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to facilitate exchanges of opinions among mayors, strongly promote top-down infrastructure maintenance, and raise awareness of the importance of maintenance.