Japanese demolition plans

Tweny four apartment blocks across Japan have been scheduled by the Japanese Urban Renaissance Agency (UR) for demolition because they fail to meet that country’s earthquake resistance requirements, according to news reports.

The 4,000 residents of the building s concerned were informed that they are to move to affiliate housing units within the next two years.

Eleven of the buildings, making up four complexes, are in Tokyo, Chiba, Saitama and Kumamoto prefectures. The remaining 13 buildings are located in the Hokkaido, Kanto, Chubu and Kumamoto prefectures but have not been named since the UR has yet to reach agreement with private owners.

The UR was caught up in a series of scandals in 2005, when it was found that a number of apartment buildings’ earthquake resistance levels were found to have been falsified. Investigations found that 2,100 buildings did not meet the Japanese legal requirements for earthquake resistance. Reports state that any of these buildings would collapse if an earthquake with an intensity of seven on the Japanese scale occurred.