On Feb. 24 Fukuoka City announced the Tenjin Big Bang Project, a project aimed at making Fukuoka an Asian Business hub by increasing the number of people working in Tenjin by 2.4 times. Taking advantage of relaxed regulations under the Strategic Special Zone initiative, the plan calls for the redevelopment of 30 old buildings in the Tenjin area over the next 10 years. The area covered by the Big Bang is a 500m radius extending out from the Tenjin intersection. One restriction the City is thinking about relaxing is the requirement for buildings of a certain size to have ample parking on site. The City estimates that the redevelopment work alone will have an economic impact of ¥290 billion and anticipates an additional annual economic knock-on effect of ¥850 billion by the time all the new buildings are complete. Source: Nishinippon Shimbun 2/25
