Influence of Communication Frequency between Urban Revitalization Corporations and Local Governments on Quality of Community Activities

Currently, the promotion of area management through public-private partnerships has become an issue in Japan. Under this situation, it is important to clarify the status and role of area management organizations as intermediaries between the public and private sectors. Therefore, this study examines the operation of an urban revitalization corporation system from the perspective of social capital. Generally, social capital is an important factor in promoting regional activities, such as those related to area management. Hence, it is hypothesized that a relationship of specific trust between the local government and its urban revitalization corporation will promote community development through an efficient public-private partnership. In addition, the frequency of communication between the public and private sectors may be an important factor for the accumulation and renewal of trust. Therefore, this study investigates the relationship between frequency of regular meetings and daily contact between an urban revitalization corporation and the local government, as well as the current role of such corporations and their involvement in developing a vision of community activities in an area covered by these corporations in Japan. As a statistical tool, we employ ordered logit techniques.