私の地元には廃校を向かいのままの形で残して地域団体が運営する施設があります。
その施設にはケーキ屋、バイキングレストラン、宿泊施設までもが完備されており、週末になるたびに大型観光バスが何台も泊まっています。
そんな”廃校”のこれからの活用方法についてです。
https://www.sankei.com/article/20220806-2DEGZI4ZNNNYPDYUS5TRPTGZQE/
少子化や過疎化により、全国の公立小中高校など４００～５００校が毎年、新たに廃校になっている。公立学校は地域コミュニティーの中心で、災害時には避難所にもなる重要施設。そんな廃校の活用法に全国の自治体が頭を悩ませる中、大阪市生野区では、旧小学校の避難所としての機能を残しつつ、交流の拠点とするプロジェクトが進んでいる。多世代、多国籍の住民の笑い声が響く、そんな未来が期待されている。
その名は「いくのパーク」
キムチ専門店や韓国料理の食材を扱うスーパーマーケットなど約１５０店が立ち並び、多くの観光客でにぎわう大阪市生野区のコリアタウン。今秋、この地域の新しい拠点として生まれ変わるのは、昨年３月に約１００年の歴史に幕を下ろした市立御幸森（みゆきもり）小学校だ。生野区では少子化に伴い、大規模な学校再編が進められてきた。西部に１２校あった小学校は、統廃合によって平成２８年から今年にかけて７校に。そこで課題となったのが、使われなくなった廃校の活用だった。
御幸森小につくられる新拠点の名前は「いくのパーク」。教室は飲食店やダンススクールのレッスン場に。図書室はそのまま、子供たちが放課後に集える図書館になる。校庭には野菜作りを体験できる農園を設置し、芝生スペースは休憩場所として開放する。
５人に１人が外国籍、多文化共生の拠点に
新拠点の企画と運営を手掛けるのは、まちづくり事業などを展開する株式会社「ＲＥＴＯＷＮ（リタウン）」と、生野区で外国人のサポートなどを行ってきたＮＰＯ法人「ＩＫＵＮＯ・多文化ふらっと」の共同事業体だ。大阪市の公募型プロポーザルで昨年１０月に決定し、準備を進めてきた。
学校は災害時には避難所として使われる防災拠点でもあり、地域住民が交流するコミュニティーの場でもある。地域の住民からはそうした拠点が失われることへの不安の声があがっていた。さらに同区民は５人に１人が外国籍で、出身国は５０カ国以上にのぼり、それぞれがお互いの文化を理解し助け合う、そんな街づくりが課題となっていた。
廃校の活用方法は地域によってさまざまだ。高知県室戸市では小学校を改修して「むろと廃校水族館」に。愛知県新城市では小学校の一室を地元のジビエ料理などを提供するレストランに作り替えた。千葉県南房総市では、少子化や過疎化が進む地域で高齢者をサポートしようと診療所やリハビリステーションとして活用。高齢者福祉施設や企業の事務所として使うケースもある。
廃校を取り壊すにも、維持するにも自治体の経済負担は重く、統廃合が決まれば早急に活用方法を探る必要がある。民間事業者による活用が決まれば、自治体は校舎などの売却益を得られるほか、維持管理費用が削減できるメリットがある。
”廃校活用”は私も昔から関心があり、どうにかして生かしていきたいと思っています。
校舎はその町のシンボル的存在だったりするので、すべてを0にして活用という形ではなく、あるものを生かして現代に復活させられないかなと考えています。
大事になるのは、コミュニティの場であり、その周辺を危険にさらさないこと。又あるいは、非常時に防災拠点として機能できるということ。
やはりこの2点は重要だと考えます。
校舎にはたくさんの思い出が詰まっており、活用してくれるのは嬉しいけど壊すのには抵抗がある人は少なくないと思います。
また、形を残すことで日本人には懐かしさ、海外の人には新しさを提供できる2面性もあり後世に残せる正の遺産にもなりうるのではないでしょうか。
例えば、長期休暇限定で学校生活を疑似体験できたり、地方であれば農業や漁業との組み合わせも悪くないかもしれません。
このように可能性はたくさんあるわけで、新しいことを考え出すよりも、既存の技術をいかにうまく活用するかがキーになるのではないでしょうか。
English edition
In my hometown, there is a facility run by a community organization that has left an abandoned school in the same state as it was across the street.
The facility is equipped with a cake shop, a buffet restaurant, and even lodging facilities, and every weekend several large tourist buses stay there.
This article is about the future utilization of such an "closed school".
https://www.sankei.com/article/20220806-2DEGZI4ZNNNYPDYUS5TRPTGZQE/
Due to the declining birthrate and depopulation, 400 to 500 public elementary, junior high, and senior high schools are closed every year. Public schools are the center of local communities and important facilities that serve as evacuation centers in times of disaster. While local governments across the country are struggling with how to utilize such closed schools, a project is underway in Ikuno Ward, Osaka City, to turn a former elementary school into a center for exchange while retaining its function as an evacuation center. The project is expected to create a future where the laughter of multi-generational and multi-national residents can be heard.
The name of the project is "Ikuno Park.
Korea Town in Ikuno Ward, Osaka City, is crowded with tourists and is home to about 150 stores, including a kimchi specialty store and a supermarket selling Korean foodstuffs. This autumn, Miyukimori Elementary School, which closed its 100-year history in March of last year, will be reborn as a new center for this area.
In Ikuno Ward, a large-scale reorganization of schools has been underway in response to the declining birthrate. There were 12 elementary schools in the western part of the city, but between 2008 and this year, the number of schools was reduced to seven due to consolidation and closing. The challenge was to make use of the closed schools that were no longer in use.
The name of the new base to be built at Miyukimori Elementary School is "Ikuno Park. The classrooms will be used for restaurants and dance school lessons. The library will be turned into a library where children can gather after school. In the schoolyard, a farm will be set up for hands-on vegetable growing, and the lawn space will be opened to the public as a resting area.
One out of every five students is a foreign national, making it a multicultural center.
The new center will be planned and operated by RETOWN Corporation, which is engaged in community development projects, and NPO NPO Ikuno Ward, which has been providing support for foreign residents in Ikuno Ward. The new center will be planned and operated by "RETOWN," an incorporated company that operates a community development business, and "IKUNO Multicultural Float The project is a joint venture between "RETOWN," a company that operates a community development business, and "IKUNO, Multicultural Flat," an NPO that has provided support for foreigners in Ikuno Ward. The decision was made in October of last year through a public proposal process by Osaka City, and preparations have been underway.
The school is a disaster prevention center that will be used as an evacuation center in the event of a disaster, as well as a community place where local residents can interact with each other. Local residents were concerned about the loss of such a center. Furthermore, one out of every five residents in the district is a foreign national, coming from more than 50 different countries, and the issue was to create a town where people could understand each other's culture and help each other.
The utilization of closed schools varies from region to region. In Muroto City, Kochi Prefecture, an elementary school was renovated into the "Muroto Closed School Aquarium. In Shinshiro City, Aichi Prefecture, a room in an elementary school was converted into a restaurant serving local gibier cuisine. In Minami-Boso City, Chiba Prefecture, a clinic and rehabilitation station were used to support the elderly in an area with declining birthrates and depopulation. In some cases, they are used as welfare facilities for the elderly or as offices for companies.
The financial burden on local governments to demolish or maintain closed schools is heavy, and once the decision is made to consolidate or close schools, it will be necessary to find a way to utilize the facilities as soon as possible. If the private sector decides to utilize the closed schools, the local government will benefit from the sale of the school buildings and other assets, and will also be able to reduce maintenance costs.
I have always been interested in the utilization of closed schools, and I would like to make the most of it.
School buildings are sometimes a symbol of a town, so I am wondering if it is possible to revive them in the modern age by making the best use of what is there, rather than by reducing everything to zero.
What is important is that it is a place of community and that we do not endanger the surrounding area. It should also be able to function as a disaster prevention center in the event of an emergency.
We believe that these two points are important.
School buildings are filled with many memories, and while we are happy to see them put to use, many people are reluctant to tear them down.
Also, by preserving the form of the building, it can provide a sense of nostalgia for Japanese people and a sense of novelty for people overseas, and it can be a positive legacy that can be left to future generations.
For example, it might not be a bad idea to combine a simulated school life experience during long vacations, or in rural areas, with agriculture or fishing.
There are many possibilities in this way, and rather than coming up with something new, I think the key is how to make better use of existing technology.
