In outline, what legislative and governmental controls apply to strategic planning/zoning across regions and in localities?
Strategic planning/zoning in Japan is governed by a combination of national and local regulations. The national regulations mainly consist of (i) the Building Standards Act (BSA) and (ii) the City Planning Act (CPA).
The CPA divides lands in Japan into two types: City Planning Areas, which are regulated by the CPA; and Non-City Planning Areas, which are not regulated by the CPA.
The City Planning Areas further consist of Urbanization Promotion Areas where development is promoted and Urbanization Restricted Areas where development is restricted.
The CPA designates 13 zoning districts within Urbanization Promotion Areas, and such zoning districts are largely categorized as three types: residential districts, commercial districts and industrial districts. The BSA governs types of buildings which can be built in each zoning districts designated by the CPA, such as use purposes, building coverage ratio and floor area ratio of a building.