6 August

Japan enacted the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law, establishing a special legal framework for the reconstruction, urban planning and redevelopment of Hiroshima after its destruction during the Second World War. Created under Article 95 of the Japanese Constitution, the legislation applied specifically to Hiroshima and came into force following a local referendum. It transformed the rebuilding of the city from a financially constrained municipal effort into a project supported by the national government.

Hiroshima faced an acute shortage of financial resources, housing and functioning infrastructure after the war. The municipal government lacked sufficient funds to reconstruct roads, homes, drainage systems, schools and public facilities. Under the new law, former military sites and other nationally owned properties were transferred to the city as part of a preferential assistance programme. Official records show that approximately 35 hectares of state owned land were provided without compensation for educational facilities, water supply systems, sanitation services and welfare infrastructure.

The legislation also led to the adoption of the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Plan in 1952. The plan proposed the development of Peace Memorial Park near the centre of the devastated city, the creation of major public parks and riverside green areas, the preservation of surrounding woodland and the construction of an efficient sewerage and drainage system. A grid based road network was designed around a 100 metre wide east to west boulevard running through the city centre. Land readjustment schemes were also used to reorganise damaged districts for housing, commercial activity, public services and transportation.

The reconstruction programme supported the development of municipal housing, bridges, roads, parks and civic institutions. Among its early housing projects were the “Peace Apartments,” built beside the Kyobashi River in 1951. The development was Hiroshima’s first postwar municipal apartment complex constructed with reinforced concrete and represented an important step in restoring permanent urban housing.

Hiroshima’s reconstruction remains significant in global real estate and urban development history because it demonstrated how destroyed urban land could be restored through special legislation, public land transfers, national subsidies and long term city planning. Rather than simply replacing damaged buildings, the programme reshaped the city around public spaces, modern infrastructure, environmental planning and a new civic identity.

The law enacted on August 6, 1949 continues to serve as an important foundation for Hiroshima’s planning and development, showing how coordinated land policy and urban investment can transform a devastated city into a functioning and internationally recognised urban centre.