[Study Notes] On Well-being in the Sixth Basic Environment Plan｜いきもの｜建設コンサルのナレッジノート

Hello. I am “Ikimono,” a construction and environmental consultant.

While reading through the “Sixth Basic Environment Plan,” which was approved by the Cabinet in May 2024, I organized how “well-being” is handled in environmental policy. In these study notes, I have organized the content while incorporating the perspective of “how to sustainably connect the utilization of infrastructure after its development.”

Overview of the Sixth Basic Environment Plan

The goals of conventional environmental policy were mainly focused on “reducing environmental impact (bringing negatives to zero),” such as air and water quality. However, in the Sixth Basic Environment Plan, the “improvement of the quality of life, happiness, well-being, and economic welfare of each citizen, both now and in the future” is clearly positioned at the top of policy priorities.

This can be said to be a major turning point in policy, aiming to elevate society as a whole, including not just economic prosperity, but also the surrounding natural environment and connections with the community.

[Reference] Ministry of the Environment: Overview of the Sixth Basic Environment Planhttps://www.env.go.jp/content/000223505.pdf

What is Well-being?

According to the definition by the WHO (World Health Organization), well-being refers to “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”

The government is also organizing this in conjunction with Cabinet Office indicators, using the axes of “current state” and “future resources (stocks).” In particular, the following “four capitals” are defined as “resources for future well-being.”

• Natural Capital: Rich ecosystems, green spaces, water environments, etc.

• Social Capital: Local connections, community trust, mutual aid networks

• Human Capital: Individual knowledge, skills, health

• Artificial Capital: Roads, infrastructure, and facilities that support daily life

[Reference] Cabinet Office: Overseas Examples of Well-being Concepts and Policy Research Promotion Systems
https://www8.cao.go.jp/okinawa/3/kodomo-hinkon/shiryou/well/r70625_01_shiryo4-2.pdf

[Reference] Cabinet Office: Initiatives Regarding Well-being (Happiness)

How to Incorporate It into Practical Work

So, how do we relate this concept of well-being to our daily work? While involved in various plan formulations and urban development projects, I feel that it is important to incorporate elements of well-being not just into “building hardware (artificial capital) and finishing,” but into soft measures such as “how to preserve and utilize the environment for the people living there after completion.”

Easy-to-understand examples include “creating walkable spaces (comfortable city centers where people want to walk)” and the utilization of “green infrastructure.”

• Conventional Perspective: Develop roads to enable safe movement (improving convenience through the development of artificial capital).

• Well-being Perspective: Introduce green infrastructure into part of the space to create shade (improving natural capital) and design a place where people can linger and conversations among local residents can emerge (improving social capital).

In this way, by adopting a perspective on how the completed space will be used, we can ultimately generate well-being for local people, such as ‘physical health (walking)’ and ‘social health (prevention of isolation and fostering connections).’

[Reference] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism: Green Infrastructure Promotion Strategy 2023

[Reference] Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism: On the Development of Walkable Policieshttps://www.mlit.go.jp/toshi/content/001856578.pdf

Conclusion

I feel that what is required of us as engineers is not simply to build things, but to carry out community development in cooperation with the region and to design space utilization with an eye toward the people who will use it in the future.

The concept of well-being serves as a highly logical indicator for measuring the value of policies as we advance community development. I intend to continue maintaining this higher perspective in my future work.

Thank you for reading until the end.