Applicable laws and regulations: Independent investigation
Completed: 1980

Environmental assessment for the Sendai Izumi Park Town Development Project, one of the largest privately-run mixed-use development projects with a planned population of 50,000 and a development area of over 1,000 hectares. The development project was to be divided into six residential districts, an industrial/distribution district, a golf course district, and a sports/recreation district, and assessments were to be carried out for each district separately based on prefectural guidelines. However, because the large-scale, long-term development would have a large impact on the local environment, particularly in terms of altering the natural environment, it was felt that the impact on the overall plan should be understood, and so an independent assessment was carried out for this project, not based on prefectural guidelines.

This assessment clarified the relationship between the entire development and the surrounding environment, and can be said to be a pioneering example of strategic assessment, which will be of great reference when planning and realizing individual development plans in the future. Now, more than 30 years after the assessment was carried out, the development has been highly praised by local residents as a housing development that takes into consideration not only the natural environment, but also aspects of the living environment such as noise pollution.