The reconstruction plan of Hiroshima City included (1) highly urgent emergency measures for restoration, and (2) a reconstruction plan targeting 115 cities throughout Japan based on the “Basic Policy for the Reconstruction of
War-damaged Areas (Sensai-chi Fukko Keikaku Kihon Hoshin),” which was adopted by the Cabinet in December 1945.
The first part [see (1) above] included funeral services for the victims of the atomic bombing, removal of debris, elimination of dangerous structures, restoration of the water-supply and sewage system, restoration of the transportation, electricity, gas, and telephone networks, and the construction of temporary housing. Starting in Fiscal Year 1946, these measures were implemented over the course of three to four years.
As the plan for reconstruction [see (2) above], plans for the construction of road networks, for parks and green areas, and for land readjustment were set by November 1946. However, at the time, Hiroshima City was having extreme financial difficulties meeting its budget, and projects were not able to proceed as planned. The city government and council urged the people, such as members of the National Diet, to obtain the support of the National Government. In May 1949, the Hiroshima Peace Memorial City Construction Law passed both houses of the National Diet, providing more generous support to Hiroshima than was provided to the other war-damaged cities. However, Hiroshima’s reconstruction plan had to be scaled back when fiscal austerity became unavoidable due to revisions made to the U.S. occupation policy in Japan that year.
Projects on road planning were implemented on 27 routes totaling about 80 kilometers. Trunk roads, including one 100 meter-wide road (currently Peace Boulevard) and others 36 to 40 meter-wide were constructed. The roads were drastically expanded compared to the prewar days, when most roads were 22 meter-wide.
As for the construction of parks, 88 parks, green areas (including riverbank greenbelts) and cemeteries were built in a 170 hectare area, some of them included the Chuo Park, which was constructed on a former military site, taking up an area of about 70 hectares in the city center, where the Fifth Division Headquarters was placed, and Peace Memorial Park which was constructed on the 11 hectare site of the former Nakajima district, which had been extremely near to the hypocenter.
Land readjustment projects were implemented in total area of about 1,060 hectares which included all areas that were totally burned and some of those that were partially burned in the atomic bombing. The City of Hiroshima handled an area of 579 hectares in the east and Hiroshima Prefecture handled 481 hectares in the western.