This paper is to examine the relationship between regional development and local communities, and to study ways to revitalize local communities for promoting regional developments. The revitalization of local communities have received attention as fac...
This paper is to examine the relationship between regional development and local communities, and to study ways to revitalize local communities for promoting regional developments. The revitalization of local communities have received attention as factors which may narrow the gap between capital and non-capital regions, and revitalize farming and fishing villages and small and medium-sized cities that are behind the times. First, we briefly review the concept of regional development, and examine government policies in relation to local communities, including the enactment of the Fundamental Act on Cooperative. Then, we classify local communities into three types for use in policy development, which are business-oriented, cooperative work-oriented, and grassroots activity-oriented. We then develop a model for the revitalization of local communities, which comprises the ecosystem of local communities and the competitiveness of community enterprises. Lastly, we discuss the establishment of five basic directions with agendas for the revitalization of local communities.