Number of Smoking Areas Required in Saitama City is 211

Planworks Policy Research Institute has published a report titled 'On the Development of Smoking Areas in Saitama City'.

In recent years, with the enforcement of the revised Health Promotion Act, which strengthened indoor passive smoking countermeasures, smoking behavior has shifted outdoors, and new challenges have emerged. In light of this situation, our institute has been conducting independent surveys to calculate the necessary number of smoking areas in major cities.

This report is part of that effort, verifying the current status of the smoking environment and the direction of smoking separation facility development in Saitama City, which is promoting the suppression of street smoking and fostering citizen awareness towards realizing a 'city free from unwanted passive smoking'.

<Report Summary>

Estimated 211 smoking areas required throughout Saitama City.

Estimated 81 smoking areas required within Saitama City's designated 'Street Smoking Ban Areas and Environmental Beautification Priority Areas'. The current number of facilities is 12, indicating a need for further development.

It is essential to systematically arrange public smoking areas around Omiya Station and other areas with high passenger traffic.

Improvements to the scope of prefectural subsidy systems and systems that private businesses can utilize also need to be considered.

As an institute, we hope that this report will be utilized as a reference for future considerations by local governments and businesses to formulate concrete measures that simultaneously achieve thorough smoking separation and improve disaster prevention and landscape.

<About Planworks Policy Research Institute>

'Planworks Policy Research Institute' (formerly Trend Lab) is a specialized unit that conducts independent research and analysis on administrative and social issues as a policy research think tank that creates next-generation planning.

We aim to reflect the knowledge gained from these efforts not only in policy recommendations and report production but also in the design of concrete plans and measures, functioning as a partner for both government and businesses.