Eco-Towns in Japan were developed in the last seven years by utilizing regional
technologies and industries in Japan. Eco-Towns have a number of key features such as (a)
strong legislation, shifting the market towards a sound material-cycle society, (b) national
and local governments are spearheading the drive to bring together industry clusters to be
more sustainable, (c) increasing product research and development – in both public and
private sectors, including universities, (d) large and rapidly expanding eco-business market,
domestically and internationally, (e) strong focus on environmental technologies and ESTs,
and innovative/cutting-edge solutions to solve environmental problems, and (f) focus on
energy conservation, material development and integrated waste management are also
features of Eco-Towns.