| Title |
A Study on the Changes of Hakodate Urban Space due to Great Fire in the 19th Century |
| Authors |
조재득(Cho, Jae-Deuk) ; 유재우(Yoo, Jae-Woo) |
| DOI |
https://doi.org/10.5659/JAIK.2026.42.2.255 |
| Keywords |
Hakodate; Open-port; Great Fire; Urban Block Reform; Urban Formation; Urban Spatial Structure; Urban Reconstruction |
| Abstract |
This study investigates how five successive great fires between 1878 and 1934 fundamentally reshaped Hakodate’s urban landscape,
transforming a vulnerable, timber-built frontier port into a resilient, fire-resistant modern city. Contrary to prevailing views that modernisation
derived chiefly from the 1854 opening under the Treaty of Kanagawa, our findings demonstrate that late nineteenth- and early
twentieth-century conflagrations were the decisive catalysts for enduring spatial change. Employing a multidisciplinary approach?combining
primary archival sources, GIS-integrated historical maps, and quantitative metrics such as street-width expansions and masonry construction
rates?we analyse the fires of 1878, 1879, 1907, 1921, and 1934. Initial vulnerabilities lay in dense wooden machiya housing, narrow 2?3 m
alleys, and peninsula wind patterns that accelerated fire spread. In response, municipal authorities implemented four sequential reconstruction
phases: (1) widening key thoroughfares from 3?4 m to 6?8 m and establishing an orthogonal grid network as firebreak roads; (2) mandating
masonry, brick, and reinforced-concrete cladding for all new and rebuilt structures; (3) creating a network of 30×30 m plazas at 200 m
intervals linked by pressurized hydrant mains, serving as parks in peacetime and evacuation/firebreak nodes in emergencies; and (4) after the
catastrophic 1934 blaze, establishing a citywide greenbelt of 33?55 m-wide linear parks hosting fire stations and enforcing updated building
codes requiring fire-rated doors and noncombustible exteriors. Comparative analysis with contemporaneous recovery models in Edo (Tokyo),
Yokohama, and Osaka reveals that Hakodate’s locally driven, heritage-sensitive, and comprehensively integrated fire-prevention infrastructure
stands in sharp contrast to centrally dictated or foreign-led plans. We propose the concept of “disaster-triggered modernization” as a guiding
framework for coastal port cities seeking to balance cultural-landscape preservation with infrastructure resilience under escalating climate
threats. By tracing the iterative cycle of disaster, institutional reform, and urban-planning innovation, this study offers actionable insights for
planners in disaster-prone regions aiming to achieve sustainable, heritage-respectful, and disaster-resilient urban development. |