高松丸亀町商店街 kame3.jpNew urbanism in Marugamemachi > A story of the development of the city

New urbanism in Marugamemachi

A story of the development of the city

Introduction

Takamatsu is the capital city of prefectural government, and it has an estimated population of 420,000. Takamatsu has been expanding as the gateway to Shikoku Island, and contains most of the national government's branch offices for Shikoku. "Takamatsu Marugamemachi Shotengai" is the renowned for its fashion. It is also the main shopping and dining area in Takamatsu which is 470m long. Trend shops and popular bland shops are lined up. It has been for 400years since the area is developed. In 1588 the Marugamemachi area was named by the Ikoma clan. The area originated from Marugame City. The Ikoma clan made the people of Marugamemachi move to this area to develop the district and assist in building Takamatsu castle. Ever since this period, Takamatsu marugamemachi Shotengai has had a rich culture.

At the 400 year celebration

As the rural shopping street, Marugamemachi is at the forefront of the city in innovative projects. In 1972 "Marugamemachi real estate Corporation" was founded to build parking lots as a result of an increase in motorization. We knew the importance of managing the area. On the other hand, renovating arcade, repainting the roads, promoting events, credit card promotions, cleaning and other countless projects have been introduced to see how successful it will be in encouraging development in the area. Eventually there was great success and these projects were just the beginning.

昭和63年 全盛期を誇った丸亀町開町400年祭




1988 was a memorable year of Marugamemachi. We cerebrated the 400th anniversary of Marugamemachi. The number of visitors was twice that of 2006. As a result of development of the central station and shopping malls the people began moving out and forming neighborhoods. The cerebration was a great success and lasted for 108days. However the people of Marugamemachi started to become anxious about the future of Marugamemachi. The principal wondered "How can we sustain Marugamemachi? What else do we need to change now?" The cerebration was an epic moment; however the number of the pedestrians started decreasing. Those projects which were already completed were not efficient enough to compete with the fascination and convenience of the buildings in suburbs. It was the beginning of the New Urbanism of Marugamemachi. They established committee and research began.

Marugamemachi has a long history. Its revitalization of urban areas has encouraged re-development of Takamatsu city. The project involves not only the people in Marugamemachi, but also Takamatsu governor. The project had started carrying with specialists of urbanism, and more people joined.

The time has come. Marugamemachi is going to be the place where "People live and gather"