9. Social Movements and Social Capital in Senri New Town

This chapter offers a case of not rural but urban one; Senri New Town (SNT). SNT is the first big new town in Japan. It locates in the northern part of Osaka Prefecture and was constructed and opened in 1962. The originally planned population there was 150,000 but in vain, and the area has experienced rapid aging of population. They said that the new town has become “Senri Old Town.” Because of financial difficulties, public sectors related to SNT have sold their real estates to private sectors or developers, which has promoted redevelopment of the area. Then original urban mosaic structure there has been partly broken and sometimes there occurred social conflicts between original residents and new comers or new developers. Within this situation of aging of population, deterioration of facilities, and conflict among residents, a new private organization, the Senri Civic Forum was established to revitalize the area and to construct new organization among the residents and the stakeholders there. It forms a new type of regional social capital in an aged urban society.