Study on adjustment of opinion in disaster revitalization process

Adjustment is an important issue to solve conflict or antipathy about disaster revitalization in sociology. The purpose of this paper is to describe the process in which residents of a disaster damaged area adjust differences of opinion around revitalization by using the case study of Minamigamou and Shihama, Miyagino, Sendai. After the Great East Japan Earthquake, Sendai city office designed disaster danger area including Minamigamou and Shinhama areas that it planned mass relocation project. The anti-relocation movement against this plan is a turning point that residents of these two areas deal with revitalization positively. After that plan revised, residents of Minamigamou and Shinhama established new institution for revitalization as the name of “Minamigamou Hukkoubu” and “Shinhama Hukkou no Kai”. Two institutions have been worked to solve 3 issues, “housing reconstruction and relocation” “dropout of younger members” “construction plan of evacuation tower and road” by adjustment differences of opinion. As a result, “Minamigamou Hukkoubu” succeeded to keep their community through collision but “Shinhama Hukkou no Kai” failed to keep their community. The academic significance of this research is as follows. An important thing of adjustment which is practiced by community organizations under disaster revitalization process is that how institutions keep the backing of their residents’ opinion. “Minamigamou Hukkoubu” has practiced “being receptive to various opinion”“guaranteeing multiple routes to participate”“guaranteeing multiple opportunities to participate” to retain the backing of it. Then, “Minamigamou Hukkoubu” has maintained its position which is the representative organization of residents through some fails on negotiation with Sendai city office. On the other hand, “Shinhama Hukkou no Kai” has not practiced these three things sufficiently. So, it failed to keep the backing of their residents’ opinion.