Q: How should the transport hub in the city be realigned and relocated?
A: It is helpful to relocate the transport hub to increase the city's growth space.
Hakata Station has been the gateway of Fukuoka and Kyushu, And the area is now one of two business centers in Fukuoka City. The area’s growth started with the relocation of the station and introduction of elevated railway tracks in 1963.
Urban Transport Hub Re-Location: Hakata Station
Hakata Station is the gateway station of Fukuoka City, prospering as the most important hub of not only Fukuoka but also the Kyushu region. Shinkansen also serves this station connecting the eastern areas of Japan, such as Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya, and other major cities in Kyushu, such as Kumamoto and Kagoshima. And the surrounding area has been developed as one of the two most business concentrated areas of Fukuoka City, along with Tenjin.
The station was initially built in the 500-meter north-west of the present location in 1889 and served as the main station of Kyushu. As the city grew more significant, the passenger capacity reached the maximum. And at the same time, the need for elevated railway tracks was discussed in order to accelerate the development of the surrounding areas of the station. At the beginning of the 1950s, the farm still occupied 25.7 percent of the area. Fukuoka City Government approached this relocation project as a long-range project for the future development of the city. The city government and Japan National Railways, the station owner then, reached an agreement for the project with the elevated railway tracks in 1958.
The relocated station was inaugurated in 1963. The major local companies also jointly invested in the station building, which offered amenities for the visitors such as a hotel, a department store, and underground shopping malls. The bus terminal connecting to other parts of Kyushu was also built next to the station. The widened roads and the parks in the area were also developed. Shinkansen linked this city with Osaka, Nagoya, and Tokyo in 1973. And Fukuoka City Subway was linked with Fukuoka Airport in 1986. Many companies have chosen this area, opening offices for the convenience of transportation. Now the area has become one of two major business centers of Fukuoka City.
In 2011, with the extension of the Shinkansen to the south, like Kumamoto and Kagoshima, a new 60-meter-high station building was inaugurated, and now living up to the name of the gateway of Kyushu, catering 190 thousand visitors per day in 2018. And the new subway station of Fukuoka City Subway Nanakuma Line extended from Tenjin Minami is to open in 2023.
Now in this area, the “Hakata Connected” project, giving incentives to the landowners to
construct the high value-added buildings which meet the requirements in the area 500-meter radius of Hakata Station, is in progress. Even there will be a commercial complex being built above the railroads. This area is expected to develop further.
[Case ID: Urban Renewal UR-10]
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