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Frequently Asked Questions regarding the Hibiya Park Renewal and Redevelopment Plan

Updated on July 5, 2023

Frequently Asked Questions

Answers

The Hibiya Park Renewal and Redevelopment Plan

1）Why should this renewal and redevelopment plan for Hibiya Park be carried out?

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government has been promoting the revitalization of parks that convey Tokyo’s history and culture.
Hibiya Park has been used by many people, but it faces the following issues:

The park is located in a highly convenient area. But issues, such as the wide streets running around it and fences circling it are barriers to accessibility, and reduce the sense of connectedness between the park and its surrounding area.
The connection between the park and the outer garden of the Imperial Palace and others is weak in terms of both an easiness of getting around and continuity in scenery. Meanwhile, visibility between the park inside and outside is low due to trees and facilities blocking the view.
The spaces, including one to be used for events, etc. have yet to be fully utilized, for instance, by taking advantage of a vista -- a scenery of a slender open space with trees or structures lining up on both sides -- created between Hibiya Public Hall and the Small Concert Hall.
Cultural and historical resources related to Hibiya have not yet been fully categorized and sorted.

Based on the above-mentioned factors, the renewal and redevelopment of the park is aimed to enhance the attractiveness that Hibiya Park has accumulated over the past hundred-odd years. Ultimately, the aim is to realize a park that reflects the “present aspects” of Tokyo, both now and in the future.

2）Tell us about the history and characteristics of Hibiya Park.

Hibiya Park, since it opened in 1903 as a pioneer of modern Western-style parks in Japan, has been visited by people as an iconic park of Tokyo. Its main features are as follows:

Forming a framework of greenery in the heart of the city.
Japan’s first modern, Western-style park, featuring what people back then called the “Three Westerns”　（Western flowers, Western food, and Western music）.
It has served as a venue for national events, and one of Tokyo’s tourist attractions or venues for special events, helping to create a lively atmosphere.
It has created venues for innovative and new activities （the grass field, tennis courts, children’s playgrounds, and health field）.
The park has many cultural and historic resources, which have been part of the basic ideas behind its overall design ever since it opened. These include the stone wall utilizing the remains of Hibiya Mitsuke, which once was an approach to Edo Castle, and the park’s S-shaped pathways.
The Hibiya Library & Museum and the Green Archives contain a wealth of information about the park and its surrounding area.

3）How was the Renewal and Redevelopment Plan formulated?

Timeline	Contents
October 2017	The Hibiya Park Grand Design Study Committee, consisting of academics and other experts, was established.
December 2018	The “Grand Design of Hibiya Park – Five Proposals” was made public.
October 2019	The TMG’s park council, an advisory panel to the governor, met to discuss the “Hibiya Park Renewal and Redevelopment Plan.”
November 2020	The “Metropolitan Hibiya Park Renewal and Redevelopment Plan （an interim summary）” was made public.
December 2020 – January 2021	Public comments on the interim summary were solicited.
March 2021	The park council made its report on the “Metropolitan Hibiya Park Renewal and Redevelopment Plan.”
July 2021	“The Metropolitan Hibiya Park Renewal and Redevelopment Plan” was formulated.”

4）What is the report made by the TMG’s park council?

The TMG’s park council was established based on a metropolitan ordinance to expand and appropriately manage metropolitan parks and cemeteries.
In renewing Hibiya Park, the council aims to further enhance the many attractive qualities that the park has accumulated over the past hundred-plus years, creating a space that is accessible to everyone.

To this end, the council compiled its report, the “Hibiya Park Renewal and Redevelopment Plan,” in March 2021 after deliberations from diverse perspectives by academics and other experts.
The Hibiya Park Renewal and Redevelopment Plan was formulated in July 2021 in light of the council’s report.

In compiling this proposal, the council also received a wide range of opinions from Tokyo citizens.

About the ‘Barrier-free Hibiya Park Project’

5）Tell us how the ‘Barrier-free Hibiya Park Project’ is regarded.

Under the “Tokyo Metropolitan Hibiya Park Renewal and Redevelopment Plan,” we need to redevelop the park as one which is more enjoyable and easier to use, regardless of age, gender, nationality, or whether or not one has a disability, so it can be passed on to Tokyo citizens of the future. We have compiled the “Barrier-free Hibiya Park Project” as a redevelopment plan toward the realization of this scheme.

6）Tell us about the schedule of redevelopment in the future.

The park’s redevelopment will be carried out in stages, leading to the 130th anniversary of its debut, which will take place in 2033.
Currently, the redevelopment is planned to start with the 2nd Flower Garden and its surrounding area in September 2023.
Following that, the work will move on to the adjacent Large Fountain, the Small Concert Hall and its surrounding area up until 2025.

The Large Open-Air Concert Hall will be redeveloped by a private-sector business, in cooperation with the TMG, with the public bidding for private-sector businesses to undertake the work slated to start around June. Other areas of the park will undergo redevelopment in phases.

The relevant information has been available on the TMG’s homepage, and the latest information about the renewal work will be regularly updated in the future.

About the redevelopment method

7）Will the “Barrier-free Hibiya Park Project” be carried out by the TMG? Tell us about the project method used.

While the TMG is, in principle, responsible for the design and construction work for the renewal of Hibiya Park, the Large Open-Air Concert Hall will be renovated by a private-sector business under the “Park-PFI,” a publicly solicited establishment and management system based on the Urban Parks Law. In addition, the decks connecting the park to the adjacent district in the city will also be developed by the private sector, on the basis of conditions set forth by the TMG.

What is the ※Park-PFI system?
It is a system to choose private enterprises through public bidding to establish park-related facilities in urban parks that will contribute to improving the convenience for park visitors. This includes establishing restaurants and stores （park facilities subject to public bidding）, and improving and renovating park facilities such as parkways and plazas in the surrounding area （a specific park facility）, in an integrated manner, by utilizing the revenue these facilities will generate.

About the ‘Barrier-free Hibiya Park Project’

8）Tell us about the efforts to make the park barrier-free.

We will make the park into one which everyone can use with a sense of ease, and move around inside safely.
- Eliminating differences in levels at facilities such as the concert halls and flower gardens.
- Establishing flower gardens which even those in wheelchairs can enjoy.
- Adopting universal design playground equipment to be designed, together with children.
- Setting up a room equipped with a pot for mixing powdered milk, in which a mother can feed her baby, and change diapers.
We will see to it that visitors will be able to get responses and visitors’ guide at the window free from worries, thus communicating with us in use of the park.
- Use of voice recognition system, tablets, and chatbots.
- Use of guide signs in multiple languages, easy-to-understand Japanese, and pictograms.
- Utilizing the park as a place for proving the effectiveness of a newly developed information tool.
By making use of digital technology, we will redevelop the park into one where visitors can enjoy while experiencing its culture and history.
- Holding events which people, regardless of whether or not they have a disability, can enjoy together
- Enabling those who are unable to visit the park in reality to enjoy strolling inside the park with use of information and communication technology （ICT）.
- Via the QR code or other means, the scenes inside the park at the time of its opening will be shown in multiple languages and explained with images.

※For more details, please see p.11 of the “Barrier-free Hibiya Park Project.”

9）Will existing trees be cut down in the redevelopment?

To protect the greenery of the park we have inherited and to maintain it as a high-quality green space well into the future, we will preserve the trees with the basic ideas as written below.

We will carry out the renewal work by avoiding trees.
If the need for transplant arises, we will do it within the park after making a diagnosis.

※For more details, please see p. 12 of the “Barrier-free Hibiya Park Project.”

10）Why are the decks necessary?

In gaining access to Hibiya Park, visitors have to walk across wide streets. Moreover, the park is circled by fences, making the park difficult to enter and making it hard for people to have a sense of connectedness between the park and its surrounding area.
Installing pedestrian decks connecting the park and its nearby district in the city at two locations, and renovating the park’s peripheral area through the removal of the fences, will help to make the park more in harmony with its adjacent pedestrian sidewalks, thereby improving access to the park from the surrounding area. The decks will be equipped with elevators so that even those in a wheelchair or with physical impairments will be able to visit the park safely and comfortably. They will be greened so that the greenery of the park will be connected to that in the Uchisaiwaicho 1-chome urban redevelopment district.

The Present Hibiya Park

11）What will happen to the existing Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall?

The condition of the Hibiya Open-Air Concert Hall has been deteriorating since it was rebuilt about 40 years ago. There is a lack of a performers’ room and the backyard, while barrier-free measures are insufficient.
To this end, we will renovate the large hall, and have its surrounding area redeveloped in an integrated manner.

On the premise that the large concert hall would retain a sense of openness that only an open-air concert hall can provide, we will have a roof that covers the stage and some of the front-row seats installed so that a concert can be held even if it rains. At the same time, we will enhance the functions of the performers’ room and the backyard by also taking into account those opinions voiced by artists and others.

12）What will become of the existing Small Concert Hall?

We will have the heights of the stage and bleachers of the Small Concert Hall lowered and eliminate any differences in levels and remove the fence, thereby having the facility redeveloped for seamless use with the fountain plaza.

13）What will become of the existing large fountain?

We will have the large fountain redeveloped while retaining its present configuration.

14）What will happen to the existing tennis courts?

We will have the tennis courts redeveloped into one where not only tennis but other ball games can be enjoyed.

15）What will happen to the existing Mt. Mikasa?

We will have Mt. Mikasa redeveloped while preserving the continuity with the adjacent plaza so that they can be used in harmony with each other.

16）What will happen to the existing 1st Flower Garden?

While succeeding the existing flower garden, we will have the visibility of the garden enhanced by lowering the hedge that circles it. We will also improve the variety of flowers of each season and continue to convey the appeal of flowers, while at the same time creating a wheelchair-accessible garden so that it can be enjoyed by everyone.

17）How long will the present Hibiya Park be open for use?

During the renewal work of Hibiya Park, the areas slated to be redeveloped will be divided into sections, with those areas outside the redevelopment zone to be used as usual.
The TMG will continue to provide information on the renovation of the park on the homepage and other media in the future.

Inquiries

Planning Section, Park Division,
Bureau of Construction
Phone 03-5320-5395

Hibiya Park Renewal and Redevelopment Plan