DEVELOPMENT OF A SPATIAL INFORMATION CONSULTING METHOD FOR MERGED LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

Abstract. In Japan, the merger of local governments is progressing. Since a digital divide may exist between local governments before merging, however, the merger may increase the gap through presenting the contrast and may provide trouble for equitably providing citizen services that the merger should aim for. To solve this problem, we developed a spatial information consulting method for merged local governments. The method can be classified into four phases according to its execution steps. The four phases are "gap analysis" that compares the current state of merging local governments (As-Is) against the ideal state (To-Be),"Scenario analysis" that shows how to realize To-Be against current issues that have been defined through gap analysis, "Cost-benefit analysis" that calculate costs and benefits to verify the feasibility of the analysis-based scenario, and "Roadmap formulation" that reflect the results obtained by the analysis over a yearly schedule table. In result, we have achieved the appropriate planning to integrate data and system for merged local governments, and be introduced in a packaged framework to other local governments that have similar issues.