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Amidst increasing economic globalization, local communities and economies are facing a range of challenges, including economic stagnation, an aging population, declining birthrate, the loss of workplaces, and the hollowing out of communities. Despite these challenges, active community members are coming together to highlight what is good about their communities and producing value within them through the intelligent use of local resources.
 
By presenting a number of case studies, this book sets out to show that when people connect and work together, they are capable of creating value in their communities. It also explores what needs to be done going forward in order for local societies and economies to develop in sustainable ways.
 
The main theme of the book, Towards the Creation of Community Value, can be explained with reference to Amartya Sen’s capability approach, which places focus on the well-being of those who inhabit communities, and which understands the creation of community value as a factor that improves their well-being. The approach defines “capital” as a fundamental element capable of storing such value and facilitating the creation of new value in the future, and posits different types of capital, namely, economic, human, social, and cultural. As such, community value, and the connections amongst various types of capital that produce it, are presented as value creation. This is discussed in the book’s introduction.
 
From Chapter 1, the book introduces individual case studies related to the creation of community value and provides insights based on actual data. The multifaceted approach of the book encompasses local branding, the arts, journalism, healthcare, social media, and local economies. The case studies and topics discussed in each chapter are all connected to the question of how the well-being of the people in communities can be enhanced. Of the various types of capital that produce community value described in the introduction, the case studies and subjects in the rest of the book are primarily related to economic, human, social, and cultural forms of capital. The role of people is central to each of these forms of capital, which cannot materialize without communication between them. While much of the book is removed from conventional communications studies, it takes a broad approach in asking how communication can lead to the creation of community value. The title of the book, Communications Studies for Regional Development reflects this approach.
 
This book is mainly authored and edited by Hideyuki Tanaka with contributions from a diverse group of researchers and experts from a range of fields.
 

(Written by TANAKA Hideyuki, Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies / 2018)