Reconstruction Plans and Planning Process After the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami - Post-Tsunami Hazard: Reconstruction and Restoration - page 20

government should not cover the whole cost of the project, and some expenses,
some of the construction cost as well as the most of the maintenance cost,
should be covered by the local governments.
However, these reconstruction projects are sometimes not well coordinated
and it arises many problems. The following examples illustrate the barriers that
hinder smooth project coordination.
One barrier is between the vertically divided administrative organizations.
In Minamisanriku town, for example, the coastal levee and the mounded
national road are planned to run parallel to each other, in close vicinity of
about 100 m. The road, planned to be behind the levee, is even higher than the
levee and the local government is planning to fi ll the resulting dips between the
two infrastructures. Although the construction of a road that also functions as
levee might present an economic advantage, it is hard to coordinate the two
projects because the prefectural government plans the levee and the road is by
the national government. Each section is overloaded with such enormous tasks
that the active coordination between the two is completely neglected. 6
The other barrier is the time sequence. Each section of the project works
with its own time schedule, which means that while one project proceeds with
the construction phase, the other is still at the basic design stage. In these cases,
it is almost impossible to coordinate these two projects.
(c) Contribution to creation of new attractive place
A coordination of the projects contributes not only to waste reduction, but also
to creation of a new attractive space for the future generation.
In Ishinomaki city, for example, the construction of the embankment on
Kitakami River is planned to take place in the central part of the city. Ishinomaki
city was historically developed as a port along the river. After the disaster, the
national government has planned to construct the embankment, while the prefec-
ture is in charge of rebuilding the bridge, and the city of redeveloping the site along
the river for commercial use. If those projects proceed uncoordinated, the city
center will be separated from the river and will be an ordinary stereotypic center.
Therefore, at the moment members of the national, prefectural and local
government arrange regular “working-level” meetings with academic experts and
consultants to coordinate time, space and budget while explaining the projects to
the local residents about the conformation of areas where the city and river will
be structurally and non-structurally closely connected with each other (Fig. 2.3 ).

2.4.2 Blank Area of the Projects

There are many projects for the requalifi cation of the affected area such as land read-
justment, urban redevelopment, and projects promoting the group relocation for disaster
mitigation. All of them present several problems in the planning and implementing phases.

6 Interview to an administrative offi cer of Minamisanriku Town on May 15. 2013.