Thinking about the Super-Aged Society ─The Role of Civil Engineering for Building a Sustainable Society─

It is estimated that the population aging rate in Japan will continue to rise in the future and the aged population will reach 39.9% of the total population in 2060, a number that would remain the highest in the world at least until 2060. Japan is facing a Super-Aged Society that no country in the world has ever experienced, and this situation will continue for the next 50 years.

This special issue presents a number of possible topics in a Super-Aged Society, highlights the initiatives that have been taken by the pioneers regarding aging society.

This special issue is structured as follows:

The article about the panel discussion by four pioneering experts “A new epoch, Super-Aged Society”.

The interview article of “Participatory community development toward a better Super-Aged Society -The role of civil engineering in the reconstruction of social infrastructure-.”, focuses on one of the important issues - the movement of the elderly.

The feature article“The Problems of a Super-Aged Society and the Routes to the Liviable Cities”focuses on one of the important issues - the movement of the elderly.

The article “Public Residential Lease System and Its Implication to Civil Engineering”, introduces not only the housing market as a private asset, but also the housing system with a focus on the public perspective of housing stock.

Initiatives taken in marginal villages located in hilly areas and fishing villages are introduced in the articles of “Conservation of upstream areas in a Super-Aged Society” and “Policies for depopulated regions - Transition from infrastructure development to public service provision -’’.

The interview article “To create a community where everyone has his/her own roles”, is an interview with the Mayor of Nagakute City, about ideas and attitudes toward community development.

Finally, the article “Super-Aged Society of Japan - Lessons from historical demography -” develops an argument with a special focus on civilization and population in the long historical period.