城市愿景由民而生：倾听未成年群体的民主初体验
很多时候，普通市民往往会陷入一种思维误区，认为自己遇到的困难只是单纯的个人私事，站出来发声不仅于事无补，而且纯属浪费时间。然而事实并非如此：当一个人勇敢发声且得到其他人的共鸣与认同时，原本孤立的个人诉求就会汇聚升华为亟待解决的公共社会议题。在我的执政理念中，市政府并没有自上而下地制定所谓的“城市蓝图”；相反，我们让市民自主构想并描绘城市的未来愿景，而地方政府则全方位提供支持并赋能这一共创过程。因为城市属于市民，而不是属于政府。
我是高岛崚辅（Takashima Ryosuke: 日本历史上最年轻的市长），现任日本兵库县芦屋市（Ashiya City）市长。虽然身处市长之位，但我并不视自己为一个传统意义上的政客。我的施政立场非常纯粹且直接：尽可能广泛地倾听各方声音，尤其是年轻一代的诉求。原因非常现实——18岁以下的在校学生没有投票权，他们的声音在传统政治体制中极易被边缘化。
为了打破这种代际壁垒，我深入走访了全市的小学与初中，去实地了解孩子们的真实想法。然而，对于中小学生而言，即便面对的是史上最年轻的市长，要让他们当面向一位“市长”坦陈己见依然充满心理压力。为此，我选择与学生们坐在一起吃学校配餐（School Lunch），并开展常态化的走访互动。我刻意淡化了官方视察的刻板形式，转而以轻松随和的闲聊方式与师生们交流。这种平等友好的沟通氛围帮助我收集到了远比正式调研更真实、鲜活的一手信息。例如，有些学生直言学校体育馆在夏季酷热难耐，基于这一反馈，市政府迅速作出决策，为市内所有学校的体育馆全面加装空调系统。我由衷希望将校园打造成学习与践行民主（Democracy: 公众参与公共事务决策的政治形式与生活方式）的第一线。
英文原文
Sometimes citizens think, “Oh, this is my personal problem or a personal issue. So it’s kind of a waste of time to speak up.” But this is not true. If someone speaks up and others agree with it, that personal issue becomes social issue. With my administration, the city government actually did not make a town vision. Instead of that, citizens created the vision by themselves and we, local government, supported the process, because a city is citizens -- a city is not the government.
I am Takashima Ryosuke, the youngest mayor in Japanese history. I’m the mayor of Ashiya City. I’m a mayor, but I’m not a politician. My stance is actually very simple. I just listen to as many voices as possible, especially from younger generations. The reason is very simple: students under 18 cannot vote. So I visited schools, like junior high schools and elementary schools, to hear their voices. But it’s so hard for kids, for students, to speak their opinions to a mayor -- even if I am the youngest mayor.
So what I did was eat school lunch together, and I repeatedly visited schools. I didn’t want to be a formal visit, but rather a casual visit, casual chat with teachers and students. I could create the kind of friendly atmosphere, and I got more information rather than in a formal visit. For example, some students told me their school gym was so hot. So we decided to install air conditioners in every single school gym. I wanted to make schools a place to learn and practice democracy.
圆桌对话解构利益固化：财政资源向公共服务转型的博弈
归根结底，治理的核心在于高质量的沟通与平等的对话。在建立这种沟通渠道后，具体的协商机制至关重要。我致力于鼓励公众发声，倾听民众心声，并将这些诉求真正转化为具体的公共政策。我们采取的核心实操工具是常态化举办对话交流会（Dialogue Meetings）。在这些会议上，我和市民们围坐成一个圆圈，彼此平等地探讨城市事务。很多时候，市长甚至不需要长篇大论，只需保持倾听，或者充当引导者去梳理市民想要深入讨论的话题。
以老龄化议题为例，芦屋市是一个以长寿宜居著称的城市，近期世界上最长寿的长者就居住在我们市，全市内约有30%的常住人口年龄在65岁以上。在多次对话会上，许多老年市民反映现有的社区活动中心日常负荷过重、人满为患，导致工作人员根本无暇解答他们在照护和健康方面的咨询。因此，我们迫切需要增加社区活动中心（Community Centers）的数量并扩充服务功能，但这势必需要充足的财政预算支持。
过去，市政府长期向符合条件的老年人发放一次性的敬老礼金。为了解决财政空间不足的问题，我们决定对福利发放机制进行系统性重构——将原本的一次性现金发放，转变为投资建设新型社区照护中心，为老年人及其家属提供常态化的健康咨询与专业指导。改革初期，部分市民认为敬老礼金代表了对长者的尊重与礼遇，甚至有人直接批评我“不尊重老年人”。
面对激烈的反对声音，我选择在多场对话会中直面质疑，向大家耐心阐释这一转型的必要性，以及它能为老年群体带来的长期实质效益；与此同时，我也主动宣布削减自己未来可领取的同类礼金待遇。这一举措让大家深刻意识到，这并非事不关己的冷冰冰政策，而是关乎全社区共同利益的自身问题。最终，长者们深刻理解了决策的产生过程，并主动转变了原有的立场。
英文原文
And it's all about communication and dialogue. I wanted to encourage people to speak up, listen to their voices, and then reflect their voices. The main method is holding dialogue meetings. It’s a meeting with me, mayor, and citizens sit down together in a circle and talk with each other. And sometimes the mayor does not even speak up. Just listens or facilitates what citizens want to talk about.
So, for example, Ashiya is a very healthy city. Recently, we had the world's oldest person in Ashiya city. Around 30 percent of the citizens are over 65. In the dialogue meetings, I heard elderly people say that the community centers were too busy to answer their questions about care. So I wanted to increase the number of community centers, but we needed some budget. So before we had a monetary gift for elderly people, so we decided to change our monetary gift system, from a one-time monetary gift to creating a new community center where elderly people and their families get some advice on wellness.
Some people say monetary gifts are a kind of symbol of respect. So some people argued that I had no respect for elderly people. But through the dialogue sessions, I explained why this was important and why this actually benefited for elderly people. And I also cut my future monetary gift. So this was not like others’ problem; this was our problem. Finally, they came to understand why we needed to change. They changed their opinion because they understood the process.
化解社区争议：让每个个体成为改善社会的行动者
当我们将这种对话与协同机制拓展到具体的社区空间运营时，其解决复杂利益矛盾的效能再次得到了验证。在每年春季樱花盛开的季节，盛景格外迷人，当地的沿街商家提出希望封路举办美食体验活动，让游客和居民能在樱花树下享受美食。然而，对于周边的常住居民而言，封路方案直接带来了出行不便与噪音干扰，这项提议因此引发了极大的争议与对立。
面对这一僵局，市政府并没有直接进行行政裁决，而是搭建平台让周边居民与商户代表共同参与到方案的设计流程中。最终，在双方深入协商后，由居民代表亲自提出了一套兼顾通行便利与商业氛围的折中改进方案，该方案落地后获得了极大的成功。这一案例再次证明：真正缔造城市未来与公共生活形态的，是每一位切身参与其中的市民，而不是发号施令的政府机构。
在传统观念中，公众往往习惯性地认为，让社会变得更好是政府机构或者某些特定精英的责任，与普通人自身关系不大。而我所努力追求的，正是彻底改变这种被动消极的思维定势。社会的前进取决于我们每一个人，每一个平凡的个体都拥有让社会变得更美好的力量，也都可以为之贡献独特的价值。这正是我作为市长最想践行并传递的核心信念。
英文原文
During cherry blossom season, when cherry blossoms bloom beautifully, local shops wanted to close the street to enjoy food under the cherry blossoms. But for local residents, that proposal was simply inconvenient, so it was controversial. But when local citizens and local shops actually joined the process and citizens proposed the plan, the proposal was a success. So citizens actually created the vision of our town, not the government.
People tend to think that the ones who make society better are the government or someone else, and not ourselves. I want to change that mindset. It is everyone. It's every single person who can make society better and who can contribute to making society better. That is what I want to do. Thank you.