Yokohama has revealed it received feedback from a total of 5,071 people regarding the city’s IR bid, comfortably exceeding the previous record of 4,715 public comments on its “Long-term Vision Plan” back in 2006. The city said it understands this figure represents the high level of interest in the project from residents.
Yokohama accepted comments for one month from 6 March 2020 as reference for the Implementation Policy for the city’s IR bid. However, to give priority to the the national fight against the spread of COVID-19, the city announced on 15 April that the procedures for the bid would be postponed for two months.
It was also explained that a briefing to the city council intended for the end of April would now be held at the end of June and the announcement of the Implementation Policy itself will now be in August. The results of the public comments will also be announced in August.
Mayor Fumiko Hayashi commented on the impact to the schedule, “As a city, I would like to make efforts toward the schedule, especially since the national government has not changed its own policy [accepting applications for IR certification from January to July 2021].”
