"GRAND GREEN OSAKA"—a vast, lush urban park directly connected to Western Japan’s largest terminal station—Preview Event
“Landscape-First” Urban Development: Building a Community Within a Park
Nikken Sekkei is responsible for urban planning, design supervision, and landscape design

Nikken Sekkei Ltd. (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Atsushi Omatsu; hereinafter referred to as "Nikken Sekkei") was responsible for the design supervision and overall design management*, among other things, of the Umeda 2nd District Development Project "GRAND GREEN GRAND GREEN OSAKA," which will have its preliminary opening on September 6, 2024.
*Overall design supervision: Nikken Sekkei and Mitsubishi Jisho Sekkei. Landscape design lead: GGN, Designer: Nikken Sekkei. See the end of the document for details on who was in charge.

GRAND GREEN OSAKA This project is centered on an approximately 4.5-hectare urban park—one of the world’s largest parks directly connected to a major terminal station—located in front of “JR Osaka Station,” the largest terminal station in Western Japan. The project will develop the area to include offices, commercial facilities, core urban functions, hotels, and residential units for sale.Based on the urban development policy of “A Hub for the Fusion of ‘Greenery’ and ‘Innovation,’” and through a public-private partnership, urban development is proceeding via land readjustment and disaster-resilient park district development projects, leading up to this preliminary opening and the full-scale opening scheduled for 2027.Embracing the “Landscape First” philosophy—building a town within a park—the project features urban spaces where landscape and architecture are seamlessly integrated. By flexibly utilizing public spaces centered on the park and outdoor areas on private land, the project aims to create “Osaka MIDORI LIFE,” a rich and vibrant lifestyle model.The creation of a town centered around a park covering a total area of approximately 9.1 hectares has resulted in an unprecedented public space.

GRAND GREEN OSAKA Based on the concept of “Osaka’s original lush green landscape,” the entire site is treated as a single, continuous expanse of land, and the design ensures that the “green” spaces of the park and private land blend seamlessly together. At its center, “Umekita Park” has been developed as a high-quality urban park through a public-private partnership.　　Through a landform (embankment) approximately 3 meters high, the project features “Umeda Plaza”—an urban plaza space open toward the southern park area in front of Osaka Station—“Umeda Forest,” a nature-rich space connecting to the North Park and the Satoyama Forest at Umeda Sky Building; and “Step Plaza,” a linear, theatrical space combining pedestrian and vehicular traffic that cuts across the north-south blocks—these three diverse “core” spaces have been created.
The symbolic elevated garden path, “Hirameki-no-Michi,” connects the north and south parks—which are divided by roads—as part of a pedestrian network. Its reverse-S-shaped layout, which contrasts with the flat topography of the landform, offers a bird’s-eye view of the park,It will serve as a new landmark for the Umeda Sky Building and the Umeda Sky Building, allowing visitors to experience the urban landscape as a sequence of views.This “Path of Inspiration,” along with the bridges and structures connecting it to the JR Osaka Station Umeda Underground Entrance, the Grand Green North and South Wings, Grand Front Osaka, and the surrounding blocks, was designed as an integrated whole, contributing to improved accessibility throughout the entire district.

To realize “landscape-first urban development that integrates parks and architecture,” we employed square volumes—harmonizing with the surrounding buildings, the Grand Front Osaka, and the Umeda Sky Building—across both small and large scales. By slightly “offsetting” each volume, we created diverse “spaces” between them.The square-shaped forms resonate with one another across the boundaries of the park and roadways, and the introduction of “greenery” into these “spaces” creates a variety of green-filled voids of varying sizes, realizing an unprecedented public space where “the city exists within the park.”
Furthermore, by treating the architectural volumes themselves as components of the landscape and cladding each volume with a finish that blends into the “green” backdrop—as if sprouting from the earth—we have created a welcoming and comfortable space.The group of buildings within the park, created as an integral part of the landform, was designed as a unified whole, as if embedded within the landform, resulting in an architectural design with no “back” side.
Furthermore, as part of its overall coordination, Nikken Sekkei visualized the value of the greening at GRAND GREEN OSAKA using the “Green Ruler”—a set of five evaluation criteria covering greenhouse gas reduction, thermal environment improvement, and the promotion of biodiversity.For example, it was confirmed that increasing the forest coverage rate to 12% would have a positive impact on Osaka’s network of habitats for flora and fauna, thereby visualizing the project’s contribution to Osaka as a whole, a city often described as having little greenery.

Nikken Sekkei is a professional services firm specializing in architectural and civil engineering design and supervision, urban design, and related research, planning, and consulting services. For 120 years since its founding in 1900, Nikken Sekkei has been committed to creating value through "social environment design," which aims to solve both explicit and implicit social issues, in order to meet the demands of society and the diverse needs of its clients. To date, it has been involved in various projects in Japan, China, ASEAN, and the Middle East, and in recent years has expanded into India and Europe.

株式会社日建設計  広報室  Tel. 03-5226-3030　 e-mail：webmaster@nikken.jp