OECD “Mayor of the Moment” interview with Takeharu Yamanaka, Mayor of Yokohama, Japan
About the OECD Mayor of the Moment Q&A series | The “Mayor of the Moment” series features interviews with OECD Champion Mayors on their strategies for tackling inequalities, improving the lives of their city residents, and promoting inclusive growth.
Credits: ©横浜市
Q. Many cities in the OECD are driving forward the transition to a net-zero future. How are you advancing a green transformation in Yokohama?
A. I believe that a policy strongly emphasising decarbonisation is crucial for Yokohama to grow as a sustainable city. Our Green Transformation must balance decarbonisation with economic growth.
We aim to cut GHG emissions in half by 2030, and to achieve virtually net zero emissions by 2050. In April 2022, the Japanese government recognized Yokohama’s Minato Mirai 21 District as a region leading in decarbonisation efforts. The district is working on developing a decarbonisation model as an example to other large cities, using public-private partnerships to reduce emissions from generating electricity for households and the commercial sector by 2030. And in August of this year, Yokohama established the “Yokohama Decarbonisation Innovation Council.” This body aims to create a large-scale hub through collaboration between industry, academia, and the government to manage demand and provide supply of hydrogen and other next-generation energy. It will also take advantage of its potential as Yokohama’s R&D-intensive waterfront area, expand opportunities for collaboration on research and development of advanced technologies that contribute to decarbonisation. By maximising Yokohama’s potential through industry-academic-government collaboration, we will strive to become a leading city for decarbonisation on a national and global scale.
Yokohama is also actively pursuing cooperation with cities overseas. In April 2023, I joined the Board of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, a global coalition of over 12,500 cities and local governments working to lower emission levels. In addition, Yokohama is partnering with Bangkok and other cities in Asia to collaborate on reaching zero emissions and exploring solutions to urban issues.
In 2027, Yokohama will host its first World Expo, “Green x Expo 2027.” Through this environmentally-focused expo, we will show the world our vision for a sustainable society built on nature-based solutions in order to overcome the global environmental crisis of climate change. Together with our residents, we will host an expo that will leave visitors saying “the relationship between nature, people, and society changed starting in 2027 in Yokohama.”
Q. You have just joined the OECD Champion Mayors for Inclusive Growth, a coalition of 60+ mayors worldwide who are leading the charge against inequalities and promoting equal access to opportunities for all. How do you intend to work with other Champion Mayors?
A. I believe every city in the world should consider inclusive growth to be a priority. I am delighted to join this group of like-minded Champion Mayors.
As mayor, I aim to help Yokohama grow into a city where everyone can thrive in their own way. The “Yokohama Medium-term Plan for 2022 to 2025,” drafted last December, reflects that idea of Yokohama as an urban ideal of “a city pioneering tomorrow.”
To make that vision of inclusive growth a reality, we are focusing on specific policies, especially on expanding support for childcare and implementing both Green Transformation and Digital Transformation. We are working on initiatives to support young people and create a community where people will want to raise a family, where anyone can conceive, give birth, and raise children in safety and comfort. We are also conscious that socially vulnerable groups are often predicted to suffer the most severe impacts of climate change, including extreme weather events and increased costs of living as food production is affected. Therefore, we are committed to ensuring our approach to decarbonisation is one that supports inclusive growth. Furthermore, we are promoting Digital Transformation across all city initiatives so that the local community can experience its merits firsthand in their daily lives.
I hope to make the most of future opportunities to exchange views with fellow Champion Mayors; showing what Yokohama has implemented, learning what our peers have achieved. By inspiring each other and learning different experiences, we can accelerating the “inclusive growth” movement in cities around the world.
Q. One of the strategic priorities of the OECD is to strengthen engagement in the Asia-Pacific area. How is your city working with other Asian cities?
A. A few decades ago, Yokohama experienced rapid population growth, and we faced challenges due to the surges in waste, insufficient water and sewage systems, and traffic congestion that came with it. By involving local businesses and citizens in the process, we were able to overcome these issues, and since then we have worked towards achieving sustainable urban development.
We’ve taken the expertise we gained in urban development and combined it with environmentally-conscious private-sector technologies via “Y-PORT,” an international technical cooperation program that supports the development of emerging Asian cities.
Specifically, we’ve signed technical cooperation MOUs with Bangkok, Thailand; Da Nang, Vietnam, and Cebu, the Philippines, and lent support to the drafting of climate change action plans and master plans to guide urban infrastructure projects. Certain technologies, developed by Yokohama companies to aid waste management, enhance wastewater treatment, and analyse energy efficiency, are being deployed by local government agencies and private firms. In this way, we are helping cities to decarbonize by reducing their GHG emissions and introducing new environmental measures.
Yokohama is also an established member of CityNet, an association of urban stakeholders in Asia and the Pacific. Through this network, we’ve shared our experience with member cities across Asia. As the current lead city of the “SDGs Cluster,” we’ve been expanding cooperative efforts and partnerships towards achieving the Global Goals.
We believe Yokohama’s initiatives in Asia to develop and promote urban solutions, as well as our work via city-to-city networks, are well aligned with OECD’s outreach activities within the region. We also hope that ongoing collaboration between the OECD and Yokohama will build momentum towards achieving shared objectives. In particular, we hope it will contribute to a “decarbonisation domino effect,” where one city’s efforts to become more carbon neutral trigger positive steps in other nearby cities.
Dr. Takeharu Yamanaka (born in 1972) became the 33rd Mayor of Yokohama, Japan’s second-largest city and home to 3.77 million residents, in August 2021. Prior to entering politics, he served as Professor and Dean of the Graduate School of Data Science at Yokohama City University after a research experience at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and other institutions. Mayor Yamanaka now actively works to leverage data-driven processes in policy decision-making and drive Yokohama’s green transformation (GX) into a carbon neutral society. He leads efforts to make Yokohama a preferred destination for growing families and young professionals, older citizens and the next generation, as well as for dynamic businesses and investment.