LONDON, Jan 8 — Who hasn’t dreamed of escaping the concrete urban jungle and moving to the country? However, few people actually take the plunge. This reluctance has led some municipalities around the world to provide financial incentives to encourage residents to move to the countryside.

The Japanese government will soon offer ¥1 million (about RM33,000) per child to families living in greater Tokyo willing to leave the city for the countryside, reports The Guardian. Until now, they have received ¥300,000 (about US$2,230) per child if they opt to move out to rural areas. This significant increase is expected to take effect in April.

However, the relocation fee comes with several binding obligations. For example, households wishing to benefit from this payment must commit to living outside the Tokyo metropolitan area for at least five years, and one of the household’s members must work in a local company or create one. These measures are intended to discourage remote workers, especially digital nomads, from applying for the incentive.

The Japanese authorities want to encourage Tokyo residents tempted by a rural lifestyle to put down roots in their adopted town or village, and bring new life to these increasingly deserted areas. They hope that this allowance will encourage 10,000 families living in the Japanese metropolis to move to the countryside by 2027, according to the British newspaper. But, for the moment, few families have been tempted by life in the country. Only 71 Tokyo households received this government support in 2019 — when the initiative was launched — rising to 290 the following year. However, the program gained popularity in 2021 as a result of the pandemic and the widespread move to remote working, when some 1,184 families benefited from this subsidy.

Reviving rural towns and villages

As generous as it is, it is likely that this subsidy will not be enough to relieve crowding in the Tokyo metropolitan area, which has a population of just under 40 million, including 14 million within the city itself, making it the largest urban area in the world. This density is not without consequences for the Japanese capital. Its infrastructure is stretched to the limit, while soaring property prices penalise Tokyo residents when it comes to buying a home. Meanwhile, the country’s rural prefectures are dealing with the opposite situation. Throughout Japan, local authorities are faced with the possibility of hundreds of villages dying out due to the lure of Tokyo and to the country’s aging population. This situation is pushing Japanese communities and the central government to test new strategies to repopulate the countryside.

Several regions around the world are facing the same problem as Japan, and are looking to repopulate their countryside in order to improve population distribution. Since 2017, the Swiss village of Albinen has been paying 25,000 Swiss francs (about RM118,640) to anyone who moves into the municipality, for example. However, interested parties must have a valid residency permit, buy (or renovate) a house in Albinen, and commit to living there for at least 10 years. The Italian municipality of Santo Stefano di Sessanio introduced a similar system in 2020. It announced that it will offer up to €44,000 (around US$46,200) to anyone who wanting to move and work there.

A year later, Santa Fiora followed suit with its own relocation incentive. This time, however, it was aimed particularly at (young) teleworkers. This small medieval enclave, located in the heart of Tuscany, offers numerous subsidies to 100 per cent remote workers. They can receive up to €200 (about RM940) of aid or 50 per cent of the total rent of their accommodation if they commit to living there for two to six months. If they decide to settle there permanently, the municipality offers them up to €30,000 to open a B&B or to transform an old building into a hotel or guesthouse. All of which could prove enticing enough to encourage the most die-hard city dwellers to turn their backs on urban life. — ETX Studio