Rikuzentakata: Rebuilding with Resilience

The City of Rikuzentakata was one of the areas in Japan hardest hit by the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, losing about 8% of its population and 80% of its residential areas. The city has since made major strides in recovery through a comprehensive eight-year plan that takes into account the development of both the infrastructural and social resilience of the city.

To facilitate recovery efforts, an innovative method of utilising a three-kilometre conveyor belt system was adopted. The aptly named ‘ Bridge of Hope ’ transported 40,000 tons of soil and gravel per day from the surrounding hills into the city, exponentially accelerating reconstruction efforts. “Rebuilding a safer and more inclusive Rikuzentakata has been one main principle behind the recovery plan ... We have successfully elevated our coastal land by 10 metres through utilising appropriate high technology, [such as] the mega conveyor belt … which helped to shorten reclamation time by about seven years,” shares Mr Futoshi Toba, Mayor of Rikuzentakata City. New zoning plans are in place to ensure that residential and commercial buildings are built on higher ground along the mountainside, while the installation of solar panels along coastal lands diversifies its energy sources.

“... through utilising appropriate hightechnology, [such as] the mega conveyor belt… which helped to shorten reclamation time by about seven years...”

Another key component of Rikuzentakata’s recovery effort is in the area of social resilience. Recovery plans were made accessible to citizens and open to public feedback on the city’s webpage. Citizens participated in an interactive workshop on the construction of the Takata Matsubara (Miracle Pine) Memorial Park. The city also promotes guided educational tours conducted by survivors of the March 2011 tsunami. Mayor Toba emphasises the importance of social resilience and the role of the people of Rikuzentakata in rebuilding the city: “Rikuzentakata should be a happy and socially inclusive city where people from all walks of life – including the disabled, the elderly, locals and foreigners – can feel happy and comfortable ... We emphasise social inclusion a lot in our planning process to hear what people want.”

Partnerships at both the local and international levels have been essential to the rebuilding of the city. At the local level, the city welcomed the Shanti Volunteer Association, a Japanbased NGO that is providing mobile library services and has actively promoted community-building activities such as recovery rice planting. On the international front, city officials jointly opened a Multi-Purpose Community Hall with the Singapore Red Cross and the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Completed in March 2015, the community hall functions as both a community space and disaster relief centre.

Mayor Toba spoke on the topic of ‘Building Resilient Cities and Communities’ at the World Cities Summit 2016.

About the Writers

Lim Wei Da
Senior Assistant Director
Centre for Liveable Cities

Wei Da is a researcher at the Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC). His research areas cover knowledge development in urban environmental and resilience issues. He holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Sociology from the National University of Singapore.

Joanne Khew
Manager
Centre for Liveable Cities