This study aims to identify the influence of the socioeconomic attributes and environmental contexts of citizens’ residential areas on the access and use of green areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results can aid policymaking and facilitate the safe and unrestricted use of green areas during the pandemic. The access and use of green areas were analyzed using a survey conducted after the official COVID-19 emergency in Japan (16 April to 14 May, 2020). Visits to green areas during the pandemic have gained salience globally from multiple perspectives: health, planning, social justice, and equity. The results of this study demonstrated that socioeconomic factors influenced the frequency of visiting green areas. The factors further influenced the use of the three categories of green areas (parks, agricultural lands, and gardens). Environmental contexts, including the land use patterns in residential areas, also influenced the use of specific types of green areas. Thus, policies need to further facilitate visits to green areas by reflecting the socioeconomic attributes of residents and their households, including income, number of children, gender, and age, incorporating those who have less access and considering the spread of COVID-19 locally. Furthermore, policies for the use of specific green areas, including parks, agricultural lands, and gardens, need to take cognizance of the residents’ environmental contexts. Management of specific green areas, like agricultural lands, is required, and residents should be provided with opportunities to use these areas with measures to avoid infection.

Empirical research on urban shrinkage is being conducted around the globe, since many countries are confronted with the phenomenon of shrinking cities. So far, the research on urban shrinkage has focused strongly on case studies, which is why we can benefit from a diverse and empirically rich knowledge base on the phenomenon and its regional manifestations. By bridging and comparing the European and Japanese academic discourse, we aim to identify the different recurring theories and key issues discussed under the umbrella term 'urban shrinkage' and strive to uncover blind spots of the debate. For this purpose, we conduct a qualitative meta-analysis of 100 empirical cases that are documented in the literature dealing with shrinking cities in the EU and Japan. This meta-analysis is based on comparative qualitative content analysis. It reveals a regionally differentiated pattern of various causes, effects and responses documented for shrinking cities in Western, Mediterranean and post-socialist EU countries and in Japan. Based on these findings, we offer an agenda for future research by suggesting an integrative perspective on the context-specific dynamics of urban shrinkage. We argue for an integrative understanding of shrinking cities in order to develop a valid knowledge base for evidence-based policy recommendations.

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Many Japanese and European landscapes harbor biocultural diversity that has been shaped by human agency over centuries. However, these landscapes are threatened by widespread land abandonment, land-use changes, and urbanization. The aim of this study is to use a “solution scanning” method to identify place-based food networks in Europe and Japan that reinforce linkages between biological and cultural diversity in landscapes. In our analysis of 26 European and 13 Japanese cases, we find that place-based food networks are typically located in heterogeneous landscapes, are driven by civil society (and less by markets), and act at a local scale. Regional identity is the most frequently addressed societal issue. Scenery, rural tourism, and nature conservation are more important motivations in Europe, and physical well-being and revitalization of local economies are more relevant in Japan. European models are typically associated with achieving biodiversity conservation and socio-cultural tradition outcomes, and Japanese models more with public health and nutrition outcomes. We discuss the potential for transfer of approaches from Japan to Europe (e.g., models that tackle the aging of rural societies), and from Europe to Japan (e.g., models that build explicit connections between food production and biodiversity conservation). We conclude with a list of recommended policy measures, e.g., the creation of a flexible legal framework that protects the interests of and reduces political constraints for collaborative efforts to biocultural diversity in landscapes.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11625-017-0455-z) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

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