Development of a Standard Model for Comprehensive Management Plans for Public Facilities, and Model Cases

The aging of infrastructure and the expected budget shortage for renewal investment are recognized as serious problems by the majority of local governments throughout Japan. The national government has already drawn up a Basic Plan for Extending the Service Life of Infrastructure to clarify the measures to address these problems, and has requested local governments to draw up comprehensive management plans for public facilities, as local action plans based on the national basic plan. However, it is difficult for local governments to sort out their own public facilities across sectors and set priorities for them, considering the possibility of integration or abolition of some of those facilities. In view of such background, the authors created a standard model to enable local governments to draft their plans easily. In this model, the necessity of public facilities is assessed, by type of facility, from various aspects such as whether each facility functions as a necessary public service, whether it should be provided by the government, whether it is needed, and whether it needs to exist as an independent facility, and appropriate measures for the respective facilities are chosen from among options such as integration or abolition, replacement with intangible services, expansion of the service area, and conversion into multifunctional types. Public works also undergo an assessment process through which they are designated to be abolished or replaced with localized services, delivery services or IT. The concept of risk-based maintenance (RBM), i.e. assuming the service life of a public work according to its importance, is also introduced. In order to verify the effectiveness of the standard model, the authors conducted a simulation test in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture, and found the following results. The budget shortage could be nearly entirely resolved by taking proactive measures such as the integration or abolition of elementary or junior high schools (including the integration of an elementary school and a junior high school in the same area), and the relocation of the functions of small community centers and facilities into school facilities. Selling surplus land may also be conducive. On the other hand, the budget secured for roads, bridges and sewage works has recently been so small that whatever measures were taken, the budget shortage could not be resolved as long as the budget size was held at the current level. Practical solutions to problems faced by individual local governments could not be found without taking into account specific facilities or numerical data in the assessment process. The test showed that the standard model is effective for such assessment. The authors hope that the standard model will help local governments implement their comprehensive management plans and that the national government will provide support for such local governments that are making sufficient efforts to resolve their budget shortage.