Operationalising the people-centred approach in small-town heritage governance: mechanism making in Uchiko, Japan

Under conditions of fragmented authority, demographic decline, and limited institutional capacity, how can the People-Centred Approach (PCA) become operationally embedded in local heritage governance? This article addresses this question through a longitudinal case study of Uchiko Town in Japan, a nationally designated Traditional Buildings Preservation District. Drawing on a Critical Realist research design, the study conceptualises mechanism-making as the locally constructed configuration of institutional arrangements, relational networks, and capacity-building processes through which PCA principles are translated into durable governance practices. Empirically, the analysis combines archival materials, long-term participant observation (2017–2024), and 32 semi-structured interviews. Through iterative coding and retroductive reasoning, the study identifies three generative mechanisms underpinning PCA embedding: enabling-rule formation , through which local actors reinterpret policy instruments to create participatory governance conditions; relational brokerage , which stabilises collaboration across governmental, community, and intermediary actors; and situated capacity formation , whereby individual skills and affective people–place relations are transformed into collective action capabilities. The article contributes a mechanism-based explanatory framework that clarifies how participatory heritage discourse becomes embedded in everyday governance practices. By integrating Critical Realist mechanism analysis with PCA scholarship, the study also identifies the contextual conditions under which such governance arrangements are likely to emerge and remain sustainable in small-town settings.