In Sendai, the “City of Trees,” the “Sendai City Center Reconstruction Project” started in the first year of Reiwa. While recovering from the Great East Japan Earthquake, the purpose of this is to tackle newly revealed issues, such as aging of existing buildings, reduced supply of newly built office buildings, and large-scale land in front of Sendai Station being unused or underused, and to grow as a city leading the Tohoku region. In this project, the future image of the city center is divided into the “Sendai Station Area,” the “Kotodai/Jozenji Area,” etc., and each is planning to create a unique city.
The “Sendai Station Area” is centered around “JR Sendai Station,” the gateway to the Tohoku region, and the west and east exit areas have been integrated and developed. The Tozai subway line opened in 2015, and the east-west free passage “Mori no Hidamari Galleria” was expanded the following year. “S-PAL Sendai East Building” opened in the center of the station, and “Sendai Parco 2” along the pedestrian deck at the west exit. Also, at the east exit, “Miyagino Street” (Eagles Road) connects to “Rakuten Mobile Park Miyagi,” which is the base of the Rakuten Eagles, and in addition to condominiums, vocational schools, restaurants, etc. are concentrated in the surrounding area, creating a lively atmosphere. Furthermore, at the east exit, the “Yodobashi Sendai First Building Planning and Development Project,” which was certified as an “excellent private urban renewal business plan,” is being promoted in integration with station redevelopment such as pedestrian deck expansion and bus terminal maintenance.
The “Kotodai/Jozenji-dori Area” consists of “Jozenji-dori Street,” which has an impressive row of keyaki trees, and an adjacent area called “Kotodai,” which is centered around the civic plaza and government office district. In addition to being a commercial area where department stores, stores, office buildings, etc. are concentrated, the “Miyagi Prefectural Civic Hall,” “Sendai Civic Hall,” and “Sendai Mediatheque” are lined up. It is also the cultural center of Sendai where events such as the “Jozenji Street Jazz Festival” and the “SENDAI Pageant of Light” are also held. However, due to the consolidation policy of prefectural facilities, etc., the “Miyagi Prefectural Civic Hall” is scheduled to be relocated to the site of the “Sendai Medical Center,” and the “Sendai Civic Hall” is also significantly dilapidated, and it is a policy not to rebuild the music hall near the “Kokusai Center Station” after completion. In this area, traffic volume is on a downward trend compared to the “Sendai Station Area,” and attention is drawn to how to utilize the former sites of both halls.
As described above, there are differences in the current situation between the “Sendai Station Area” and the “Kotodai/Jozenji Area,” but since both areas are commercial areas representing Sendai, various social experiments have been carried out. It is expected that the urban appeal of Sendai, the “City of Forests,” will increase as unique town development progresses by utilizing these knowledge.
Reprinted from “Weekly Building Management” by Building Management Institute Co., Ltd. (with permission)
