Designing public spaces that transcend various boundaries
Kumamoto City Hanabatake Square & Yokkaichi City “Niwamichi Yokkaichi” Central Street Reorganization Basic Plan

Hanabatake Square, completed in November 2021, is the collective name for three sites—Kumamoto Machinaka Square, Karashima Park, and Hanabatake Park—located in the area that runs from the center of Kumamoto City to Kumamoto Castle. This is a large-scale project that has implemented public design over an area of 1.5 ha, and in addition to Hanabatake Square, Nikken Sekkei also planned and designed the adjacent complex facility, Sakuramachi Kumamoto.

The concept is “a large hall in the town, with Kumamoto Castle and a garden adjoining it.” In the planning, the approx. 230 m road in front of the old bus terminal was closed to traffic and turned into a completely pedestrian space. The aim was to connect the various sites and create a new landmark for the town.

This development project, which combined urban planning, architecture and civil engineering, was a rare example of such a large-scale project in Japan. Because the ownership, management and legal classification of each part of the project differed, it was necessary for the public and private sectors to work together, as well as for the designers to communicate carefully with each other as the project progressed.

For example, the design of the facade, pavement and plant species selection in front of the adjacent complex “Sakuramachi Kumamoto” was coordinated with the architects to ensure a unified design, and at first glance it is difficult to tell where the private and public areas begin and end. In addition to the pavement and planting, the lighting and color schemes also crossed various boundaries to achieve a unified design.

To begin with, Kumamoto is a city that retains a strong historical context centered on Kumamoto Castle. With this history in mind, we were conscious of creating a design that embraces time in order to create new value for the city.

The road, which was once used as a main road for the feudal lord's official attendance service to the Edo Shogunate, inherited the image of the Hirokoji, a characteristic feature of the castle town, and was divided into modules called “Hiroma” based on the traditional Japanese shakkan-ho measurement system, with each module measuring 15 ken (approx. 27 m). This design has also been adopted in the ongoing development projects in the surrounding area, and is a design shared by both the public and private sectors.

In addition, the Kumamoto Earthquake occurred in 2016, and the project gained the added status of being a symbol of reconstruction. Therefore, in order to pass on the memory of the town, various materials are being used, such as reusing the roof tiles of the Kumamoto Castle keep, which were damaged by the earthquake, as paving materials for the Hiroma.

Furthermore, while constructing a system that can be used in times of disaster by storing rainwater in the plaza using green infrastructure methods, disaster prevention initiatives were taken, which link with surrounding facilities as a disaster prevention base. Programs were also proposed to create a synergistic effect of liveliness, such as holding events, at the same time, while aiming for efficiency by centrally managing and operating each site.

Another major feature of the project was that it reflected the needs of the citizens and those involved in town development, creating a different character for each area based on Kumamoto Castle and the surrounding environment, and arranging furniture and facilities to suit each location. This design process was also highly evaluated, and the project received the 2023 Civil Engineering Design Prize, JSCE - Grand Prize.

“Niwamichi Yokkaichi” is a project to reorganize public space in the area around the 1.6 km-long, 70 m-wide Chuo Street that connects Kintetsu Yokkaichi Station and JR Yokkaichi Station in Yokkaichi City, Mie Prefecture, and the three parks located nearby: Citizen's Park, Unomori Park, and Suwa Park. As of 2024, the west side of Kintetsu Yokkaichi Station has been partially completed, and work is progressing on the other areas in turn.

The concept of the basic plan, "niwamichi," combines "niwa" (garden), which serves as a green infrastructure to create high-quality spaces through interaction with nature, with "michi" (path), a walkable area that also functions as a place for activities and gatherings.

The main policy for the roadway is to reduce the number of lanes to match the current traffic volume and consolidate them to the south and to develop the pedestrian space created on the north side into an attractive space like a square or park. In addition, bicycle paths will be developed along the entire route, and in the future, the passage of next-generation mobility is also expected.

The plan is to create two cores, Kintetsu Yokkaichi Station and JR Yokkaichi Station, and to transform the urban axis that connects them. The aim is to improve the area's walkability and spread the hustle and bustle of the area around Kintetsu Yokkaichi Station to the whole town, not just the streets along the station.

When we talk about reorganizing road space, it is common for similar road cross-sections to continue in a straight line. However, in “Niwamichi Yokkaichi,” we have introduced a variety of plantings, places for people to linger and make use of, and a curved landscape. We are challenging ourselves to create a road that is like a park, with the aim of creating a space where scenes change continuously.

In addition, the circular deck on the east side of Kintetsu Yokkaichi Station, which will become the face of the town, and the design of street furniture such as street lighting, benches and signs for the roads and footpaths that form the framework of the city are all “Yokkaichi originals.” The completion of the project is not the final goal, and we are also working on the formulation of strategies aimed at the design control of the entire road space and the utilization of the space after it has been completed.

Anyone familiar with the world of architecture will know that even just matching the paving materials used in the parks and roads requires a lot of adjustment. In this project, in order to create a sense of unity as a central city area, the same team is working on the entire space, including not just the central street but also the three parks and the station square, to create a total design that transcends boundaries and is not limited by administrative divisions.

Nikken Sekkei was involved in a wide range of areas, including initial planning and design of a diverse range of facilities such as roads, parks and decks, as well as supporting consensus building through initiatives such as residents' workshops, social experiments and the implementation of a smart city project. In addition, we worked with the client, Yokkaichi City, to promote the project in a consistent manner, from the planning and design stages to the construction stage, where we were involved in communicating the project's intentions. Niwamichi Yokkaichi is a prime example of the kind of urban design that NIKKEN has been working on.

The issues faced by the Hanabatake Square and Niwamichi Yokkaichi projects are both unique, and naturally, an approach tailored to each city is necessary to solve them. Sometimes the answer may be found in historical context, and at other times it may be found in the environment or smart cities.

The one thing they all have in common is that they are “spaces for citizens.” We believe our mission is to untangle the various issues and find ways for everyone to move in the same direction toward happiness.

It is not always necessary to aim for avant-garde designs that are a step ahead of the times in public spaces that become citizens' assets. Nevertheless, we want to make sure that the designs have a long life so that the finished products can be used for as long as possible. Our goal is to create a vision for the city that, while anchoring one foot at at the present, hints at the future—a “city that takes half a step ahead of its time.”

To achieve this, we make proposals that are not restricted to the fields of architecture, civil engineering or landscape design. We also believe that the most important thing is to realize the plans agreed upon with the people involved. To realize our plans, we will continue to work on projects with our clients and other people involved in a sincere manner.