京都市東山区における自主防災組織と町内会の現状 : 2018年自主防災部長アンケート調査より

Abstract

Higashiyama-ward, Kyoto, where Kyoto Women's University is located, is categorized to be an urban super-aging society where over 30% of the population is over the age of 65. In 1999, 100% of the Kyoto city’s neighborhood established their own voluntary disaster prevention organizations. This high awareness of disaster prevention speaks to the long history of strong local community building. However, with the aging of residents becoming serious, the future of regional disaster prevention has also reached a turning point. In response to these issues, I conducted a survey in 2018 to voluntary disaster prevention managers in Higashiyama-ward with the cooperation of the Higashiyama Fire Department to understand the current state of voluntary disaster prevention and the management actual of the neighborhood associations. Based on the survey, (1)Voluntary disaster prevention managers are divided into two types, “inexperienced and currently still working” managers who are selected through an obligatory rotation system, or “experienced elderly” managers centering on the 65-74 age group including baby boomers. Local disaster prevention is being barely maintained by the latter “experienced elderly group”. (2) While the shortage of human resources significantly affects the status of voluntary disaster prevention efforts and is of high concern for managers, voluntary disaster prevention programs that emerge from the collaboration of multiple neighborhood associations mitigates this concern. (3) Neighborhood associations, which serve as the fundamental base for voluntary disaster prevention programs is rapidly declining, particularly for small neighborhood associations with 20 households or less. The maintenance and continuation of such associations is fading with uncertainty for the future. There is a need to examine how to systematically promote cooperation among voluntary disaster prevention organizations beyond the scope of neighborhood associations, while also respecting the historical independence of the “Machi” in Kyoto.