(also known as the Law on Historical Urban Development)

1. Law on the Maintenance and Improvement of Historical Landscape in a Community (known as the Law on Historical Urban Development) was promulgated on May 23, 2008 as Law No. 40 and came into force on November 4.
2. This law is under the co-jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Agency for Cultural Affairs), the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and has been established to maintain and improve the "historical landscape" (defined as "buildings of high historical value, their surrounding urban environments, and good urban environments that integrate people’s activities based on the unique histories and traditions of local communities" in Article 1.)
3. Historical landscape is being lost, along with the rapid decrease in historical buildings, for various reasons. To address this situation, the government supports development efforts through the Law on Historical Urban Development to pass the historical landscape on to next generations, as a joint effort of the administrations for cultural properties and urban planning.
4. The Law specifies that:
   - The government will develop Basic Policies for the Maintenance and Improvement of Historic Landscapes
   - The government will authorize Plans for the Maintenance and Improvement of Historic Landscapes prepared by local governments
   - Special measures will be taken based on the authorized Plans for the Maintenance and Improvement of Historic Landscapes
   - A System of District Planning for the Maintenance and Improvement of Historic Landscapes will be established
   
5. The Law requires that Plans for the Maintenance and Improvement of Historic Landscapes are prepared by local governments to specify "priority zones" (Item 2, Paragraph 2 of Article 5) which are defined as:
   - Zones or areas around the zones that serve as land for buildings designated as Important Cultural Properties, Important Tangible Folk Culture, Historic Sites, Places of Scenic Beauty, or Natural Monuments
   or
   - Zones within or surrounding the Important Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Buildings (Item 1, Paragraph 2 of Article 2).
   In short, cultural properties are also the core of the Law on Historical Urban Development.
6. Additionally, municipal Plans for the Maintenance and Improvement of Historic Landscapes must include "policies regarding the maintenance and improvement of historic landscapes in the priority zones in the municipalities" (Item 1, Paragraph 2 of Article 5).
   In developing Plans for the Maintenance and Improvement of Historic Landscapes, the Basic Scheme for Historic and Cultural Properties should ideally be developed as a basis for the plans. This is a basic scheme designed to properly understand local cultural properties, through research work and comprehensively preserve and utilize cultural properties including their surrounding environments.

7. Basic Scheme for Historic and Cultural Properties

8. As local governments develop their Plans for the Maintenance and Improvement of Historic Landscapes and the national government authorizes them, landscapes will benefit from various special measures or receive governmental support, based on the Law on Historical Urban Development.