| Research Abstract |
In an increasingly mature society, the demand to conserve agricultural environments, focusing on the public-function aspects of farmland, has been mounting. Although the pressure of urbanization has weakened, nuisance facilities have been increasingly constructed, and the number of nonresident landowners is still tending to rise. Additionally, problems have arisen such as the problem of finding successors for aging farmers, or the financial problems which were illuminated through the increase in self supporting farmers. On the other hand, there remain possibilities that new generations can be engaged in farming in certain forms of agriculture, a strong demand for the conservation of agricultural environments, and the foundation to create a community which encourages residents to join town development. With these factors taken together, the conservation of agricultural environments is highly anticipated. However, to make this anticipation a reality, there must be approaches which are taken at the local level alone, for example, implementation of the measures local governments adopted is not enough, and public approaches at the residential level, or town-by-town level, are also needed.
Finally, regarding approaches at the residential level, first, the potential power which each community internally has needs to be increased. lb do so, the community must share the local challenges or difficulties, establish concepts and a vision for land use to solve the shared challenges, and put those concepts and visions into practice. Next, to promote town development activities, an association suitable for each community should be established at each stage of town development, and people in the association need to acquire technical knowledge. Finally, when all the challenges faced can not be solved by using the community's internal power alone, academic and governmental involvement, such as administrative support and technical assistance, are of great importance.
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