Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake: Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture; Earthquake Disaster Reconstruction & Land Readjustment Project of Takatori Higashi Daiichi District Realizing Resident-Oriented Town Development by Two-Step Urban Planning

• Located about 7km south of Sannomiya station, which is the center of Kobe City, Takatori Higashi Daiichi Chiku is a district extending to the south-east of JR Takatori Station. Before the earthquake, while the district had a scenery of so-called “lower town” consisted of shops, pre-war row houses, etc., it also had problems, such as the accumulation of small and narrow houses, aging housing, the lack of public facilities such as roads and parks.

• In the earthquake, almost all of the buildings in the district were burned down. Earthquake Disaster Reconstruction & Land Readjustment Project was conducted to realize an early reconstruction and a town development reflecting residents’ opinions and develop a safe, secure and comfortable urban area, in order to prepare for future earthquakes.