Johannes KLUEHSPIES, The International Maglev Board, Germany
Martina HEKLER, University of Duisburg-Essen, Department of Geography, Germany
In Japan, a maglev (magnetic levitation) line for speeds above 500km/h has been under construction between Tokyo and Nagoya since 2014. In 2020, however, Shizuoka prefecture blocked the construction of the line on its territory, which was already at an advanced stage. In order to approve the continuation of construction, the prefecture is demanding greater project participation, more economic involvement, stricter environmental protection requirements and, above all, major additional investment in the entire regional transport infrastructure, including a dedicated station for the new high-speed maglev system in the prefecture. However, the operator and project developer, JR Central, vehemently opposes such demands. Overall, the conflict is likely to postpone the opening of the Japanese high-speed maglev system by some years.
For data collection and analysis, qualitative methods have been employed. This included document analysis such as websites, national daily newspapers, policy documents and research reports. This presentation aims to give an overview of the interests and conflicts between major stakeholders by exploring the question of what the viewpoint of the prefecture is; what the interests of JR Central are; which role the river Oi plays; and what options for conflict resolution are.
In Japan, the river Oi has become a symbol of societal unease over intransparent planning processes. For a long time, participation was not an issue in Japan, when the first application case (Tokyo – Nagoya) was developed. The fact that a harsh and bitter conflict has ensued in connection with the maglev line realization process is probably a result of the general lack of relevant participation opportunities for citizens and science in Japan.
Mots clés : High-speed transport|Infrastructure development|Transport geography|Transport policy|Maglev
A103371MH