The Birth of Riverside Greenbelts in Kobe City

A Disaster-resistant Concept proposed by Minoru Kouda and its influence on the postwar reconstruction

Abstract

This paper aims to explore the formation process of riverside parks in Kobe city and its planning thought. The concept of riverside parks was proposed for disaster-resistant after the Great Hanshin Flood that occurred in 1938. Minoru Kouda asserted the concept of building green belts that is 100 meters wide along rivers in the discussion of the reconstruction committee of Kobe city. This idea was not adopted because of a difficulty of acquiring a government subsidy, but adopted in the postwar reconstruction policy. The greenbelt plan has implemented by a land readjustment execution, and realized with a little reduction of the original plan.