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Part of the TRAFO series “Reconstructing Neighborhoods of War”By Allam Al-Kazei More than seven decades have passed since the atomic bombing of Hiroshimain 1945. When people look back at the history of urban conflict, many see thebomb as a reminder of the cruelty of warfare. Nonetheless, for Hiroshima andits citizens, the atomic bomb was also a milestone and a junction in the city’surban development. The blast and the subsequent fires devastated most of thecity’s built-up area and completely destroyed buildings within a two-kilometerradius of the hypocenter. Despite the widespread destruction, Hiroshima has setits path towards a long reconstruction process and was able to claim the statusof a Mecca for world peace. Today, Hiroshima’s once-destroyed city center is a vibrant area in the cityand urban vitality has found its way back to the heart of Hiroshima. Therecovery was a long and challenging task that continued for decades after thedisaster. The transformation of Hiroshima into a Peace Memorial City waslargely steered by memorialism-driven reconstruction, which was amaterialization of the Peace Memorial City Construction Act in 1949 and thePeace Memorial City Construction Plan in 1952. Nonetheless, examining therevival of Hiroshima through the lens of the neighborhood instead of a macroview of a masterplan for the whole city gives new perspectives and insights onhow each neighborhood has contributed to the recovery of the city. Insightsfrom the case of Hiroshima provide clues to how post-war reconstruction and itsfollowing urban development were able to bring the city center back to thedaily life of the citizens.Towards a Memorial HiroshimaAlong with many other Japanese cities devastated by air raids, Hiroshima beganits journey towards reconstruction soon after the war. At the national level, thenational government issued the Basic Policy for the Reconstruction ofWar-damaged Areas in December 1945 to provide the general guidelines forreconstruction plans, projects, and execution. However, Hiroshima’s infamousdestiny was the catalyst for an image-shift in the city, which also correspondedto the contextual circumstances at that time. While different reconstructionefforts were made in the immediate years after the bombing, the Peace MemorialCity Construction Act and Plan were eventually the framework for the city’s newimage as a memorial city. In terms of reconstructionplanning, land readjustment plans, transportation network plans, and land-use plans were all prepared for the devastated area. Both Hiroshima cityand its prefecture wereinvolved in the execution of the plans in the designated damaged territory bydividing the territory into two sectors: the western sector where plans were carried out by theprefecture, and the eastern sector wherethey were carried out by the city. While the planning was done in a manner consistent with thepre-war modus operandi, these plans brought some major changes to the urban layoutin Hiroshima, such as the PeaceMemorial Park and the Peace Boulevard. The planning of the memorial park in theheart of the city was in harmony with the post-war new memorial image ofHiroshima. On the other hand, the Peace Boulevard’s importance comes from acontextual necessity, since it wasoriginally a wartime plan as a firebreak for disaster prevention. Former mayorShinzo Hamai has described the purpose of the plan in his memoir: “if the central area had an East-West division, the city could be dividedinto twelve blocks by the rivers and empty land. Even if a major fire takesplace, it could be contained within one block.”The Comeback of Hiroshima’s NeighborhoodsWhile reconstruction plans are usually made on a large, comprehensive levelto set the path towards an overall recovery, the stories behind the revival of Hiroshima’sneighborhoods represent episodes of success and struggle in the course of thisrecovery. Those neighborhood-based episodes in a war-torn city are the uniquepieces in the mosaic of the history of reconstruction in the city. In the caseof Hiroshima, some neighborhoods went through major transformations orwitnessed key highlights in the post-war reconstruction era either related ornot to the new memorial image of the city. Hakushima for instance, aresidential neighborhood in northern Naka ward, gives an example oftransnational urbanism in a time where foreign advisors were contributing to thereconstruction planning of the city. Stanley Archibald Jarvie from the BritishCommonwealth Forces (BCOF) was assigned as a reconstruction advisor inHiroshima during the occupation of Japan. He elaborated a plan for Hakushimawhere he implemented western planning concepts [3]. In the end, his plan wasnot implemented, but it remains evidence of the flow of cross-cultural planningideas during that period. Another well-known example of the post-war transformation during the reconstructionera can be seen in Nakajima neighborhood in the city center. After itsdevastation by the atomic bombing, the once-vibrant neighborhood in the heartof the city was instantly destroyed due to its proximity to the hypocenter. Inan endeavor to memorialize destruction by the disaster, Nakajima neighborhoodwas turned into a Peace Memorial Park based on the design of Kenzo Tange. Today,the park is a popular tourist destination and the venue for the annual peacememorial ceremony. The peace memorial museum in the park tells the story of thebombing of Hiroshima to its visitors from all over the world. A different sort of transformation can be seen in the redevelopment ofMotomachi neighborhood. The once military-use area in Central Hiroshima wasturned into a residential neighborhood. This was made possible since the PeaceMemorial City Construction Act facilitated the transfer of ownership ofpreviously military-use lands from the national government to the city. Afterthe bombing, illegal houses were built in Motomachi, and their fire-proneenvironment was a long-standing challenge for reconstruction in the city. Ittook reconstruction efforts up to the late 1970s to reintegrate the militarylands in Motomachi by turning them into civic facilities, parks, and publichousing. After demolishing the illegal housing, the construction of mid-risepublic housing continued from 1956 through 1968. Later, a plan for high-risehousing was made by Masato Otaka which showed another example of cross-culturalurbanism manifested by piloti-style design and rooftop gardens. Currently, theonce militarized area contains several civic facilities, such as the HiroshimaCentral Library, the Hiroshima Museum of Art, and sports facilities. By the endof the reconstruction era, the military character of Motomachi has beenabandoned; however, the housing project is currently facing new challenges likedeteriorating buildings and ageing residents. Another revival episode highlights the role of the citizens in rebuilding theirneighborhood as seen in Hondori Commercial Street. Hondori’s location close tothe center of the explosion led to its large-scale devastation by the bomb. Outof the 160 shops that were open on the day of the bombing, only a few heavily-damagedreinforced concrete buildings remained. Despite this situation, shop ownershave played an important role in stimulating the reconstruction process in atime where resources were limited. After one month of the atomic bombing,business owners gathered in Hondori on September 15, 1945 to discuss thereconstruction of the commercial street, forming what they called Kusawake-kai(Pioneers Association). The case of Hondori Commercial Street sheds lighton how reconstruction efforts have helped the city center reclaim its vitalitydespite having to begin again essentially from scratch. In 1954, Hondori wasturned into an arcade street, making it one of the largest scale arcades inWestern Japan. Shops went back to the commercial street, and so did people.Currently, Hondori is a vital area in the city center, despite its near total destructionin the atomic bombing.  Vital environment in Hondori Commercial Street The above-mentioned episodes of revival show that looking back at thehistory of reconstruction of cities after calamities should not only cover how thecity as a whole was rebuilt or planned but also how individual neighborhoods havecontributed to this recovery. Histories of reconstruction should examine howthe damaged neighborhoods had their unique stories and protagonists, and howall of these stories complement each other to create a larger narrative of thecity’s reconstruction. &#160;References and Further ReadingHiroshima Toshiseikatsu Kenkyuukai, Reconstruction of Hiroshima:Pictorial History of Forty Years since Atomic Bombing, Hiroshima City,(1985): 29.Shinzo Hamai, Genbaku Shichou - Fukkoku-Ban, Shift Project,(2011): 78. Hiroshima city, Hiroshima Shinshi: Toshibunkahen, HiroshimaCity. (1983):71.Sensai Fukkou Jigyoushi Henshuu Kenkyuukai and Hiroshima-shiToshiseibi-kyoku Toshiseibibu Kukakuseiri-ka, Sensai fukkou Jigyou-Shi,Hiroshima city, (1995): 51. Itsuki Igawa, Hiroshima hondori monogatari - 577 no butai niikiduku ninngen moyou, NanNan Publishing, (2013):135.Hiroshima Hondori Shoutengai Shinkou Kumiai, Hiroshima hondorishoutengai no ayumi, Hiroshima Hondori Shoutengai Shinkou Kumiai. (2000):57.Allam Al-Kazei is a member of the Urban Multicultural Planning Laboratory at the University of Tsukuba, Japan. He is pursuing his doctoral studies in Urban Planning with focus on post-conflict reconstruction. His research interests include reconstruction planning, urban renewal, and urban redevelopment in a post warfare context. He approaches these topics by examining previous cities which were rebuilt after the war. Allam is currently carrying out research on the impact of reconstruction planning on post-recovery urban vitality in conflict-affected areas. He has carried out research on cities which were devastated by human warfare such as Beirut and Hiroshima. He is a member of multiple academic communities both inside Japan such as the City Planning Institute of Japan, and overseas such as the International Planning History Society. Allam has given presentations in several international academic conferences, forums, and workshops.Further articles in the series “Reconstructing Neighborhoods of War” on TRAFO:Birgit Schäbler,&#160;Introduction: The Importance of Being Earnest About Neighborhoods, 28 August 2019.Kevin Mazur,&#160;Not Just Neo-Liberalism: Spontaneous Settlement and Violent Conflict in Homs, Syria, 4 September 2019.Mazen Haidar,&#160;Neighbors at War in 1975-77 Beirut,&#160;11 September 2019.Piotr Korduba, The Reconstruction of Warsaw: Between Abhorrence and Acceptance, 18 September 2019.Paul Sigel, “More Beautiful than Ever Before!” Neighborhood-Rebuilding in Divided Germany as Political Propaganda during the Cold War, 25 September 2019. Citation: Allam Al-Kazei, Beyond the Atomic Bombing: The Revival of Hiroshima’s Neighborhoods, in: TRAFO – Blog for Transregional Research, 02.10.2019, https://trafo.hypotheses.org/19756.