Maebashi Creative City: International Competition for Urban Space Design from Gunma Prefectural Office to Maebashi Station

Promoting Gunma as a
world-class creative hub

Public Exhibition Announcement

The works that have passed the first round of this design competition will be publicly displayed. We would like to hear your feedback on the proposed works.

Period
13 January (Mon) ―
26 January (Sun), 2025
Venue
  • ① Gunma Prefectural Office, 1F Prefectural Hall　etc.
  • ② Maebashi City Hall, 1F Citizens Lobby
  • ③ Maebashi Plaza Genki 21, 2F Parking Lot connecting Passage　etc.

Here are the works that passed
the first screening.

お知らせ

NEWS

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開催趣旨

Purpose of the Event

Maebashi, the capital city of Japan’s Gunma prefecture, lies just 100 kilometers northwest of Tokyo at the base of Mount Akagi. The four seasons come in full force here, with muggy, hot summers and dry, cold winds in winter.

Over the past decade, Maebashi has been working to reinvent itself as a budding ar t destination, drawing in creatives from around the world. By becoming a creative, design- centered city that prioritizes green spaces, slow-living, and overall well-being, Maebashi strives to solidify its brand identity as a “creative slow city.”

Despite revitalization efforts, foot traffic remains sparse, as most people prefer using cars to move around downtown, spending most of their time in the suburbs. This contributes to ongoing issues like traffic congestion at major intersections and poor pedestrian infrastructure.

Gunma aims to take inspiration from the walkability, mixed-use zoning, and creativity-infused urban landscape of Portland, Oregon, along with the accessibility to green spaces and the sense of openness found in Melbourne, Australia. By reimagining the street experience, Gunma hopes to transform the main street into a space that interacts with the surrounding city in a new ways while becoming a community gathering point. While new mobility solutions, such as autonomous public transportation, are being introduced to address these challenges, there is still an urgent need to transform Maebashi’s downtown traffic flow.

To realize a walkable, design-first downtown, Gunma prefecture invites local and international designers, architects, urbanists, and landscape architects to lead the redesigning of Maebashi into a global creative hub. This competition aims to collect innovative proposals for a forward-thinking, inspired “transit mall” design that is pedestrian-oriented while contributing to the city’s art-focused revival movement.

開催概要

Outline of the Event

Competition Name

Maebashi Creative City
Prefectural Office–Maebashi Station
Urban Space Design
International Competition

OrganizerGovernor of Gunma Prefecture.

Competition Theme

“Design an innovative, creative
downtown
that prioritizes
sustainable urban infrastructure.”

  • Proposal 1

    Road space design from
    the prefectural office to
    Maebashi Station.

  • Proposal 2

    Space design for
    Prefectural
    Citizens' Plaza.

Required Items

  • Design concept showing the fundamental approach.
  • Realization process for project implementation.
  • Panoramic views and sketches of road spaces, Front Yard,etc. to visualize design ideas.(and more)

Requirements

  • Proposals should utilize Maebashi City's unique regional resources, such as its culture and history,while addressing various challenges with a distinct local approach.
  • Proposals should aim to create a walkable road space that prioritizes public transportation and pedestrians, where diverse individuals can gather, relax, and engage in activities.(and more)
  • For other details, please refer to the recruitment guidelines.

Target Facilities

  • Main street from Gunma Prefectural Office to Maebashi Station, about 1.5 km
  • Prefectural Citizens' Plaza in front of Gunma Prefectural Office.

Application Period（Tentative）

2024.10.24

2024.11.22

Eligibility for Participation

Individuals or groups.

  • However, at least one person with the necessary
    qualifications must be assigned.
  • For other details, please refer to the recruitment guidelines.

Total Prize Money

29 (including tax) million yen

Best proposal prize
（1 person）

25 (including tax) million yen

  • Best proposal prize money includes the 1 million yen
    for those who pass the first screening.

Prize money for those
who
pass the first
screening（4 people）

1 (including tax) million yen

×

4 people

Schedule（Tentative）

Application Deadline

November 22,2024

First stage Proposal Deadline

December 13,2024

First stage Screening Results Announcement

Late December 2024

Final Screening Results Announcement

Late March 2025

  • Schedule is subject to change.

For an overview of the competition,
please click here

Related Plans

Please check here for the competition leaflet.

After the Design Competition is over, you will need to register for Gunma Prefecture bidding qualifications before you can enter a contract for basic design. For details on registration, please click here.

募集要項

Guidelines for Application

Please check the recruitment guidelines and download the necessary documents.

Templates

Planned Registration of Participation

Questions

Declaration of Participation and Oath

First-stage screening documents

Documents for the second Screening

Supplementary Materials

Application registration

Please fill in the application registration form and register.

Registration acceptance period

2024.10.24（Thu）

2024.11.22（Fri）

  • Application Form

    ※Registration for Preliminary Application is now closed

Submission Documents

  • Form 1-1-1: Planned registration form for individual corporations
  • Form 1-1-2: Planned registration form for consortiums
  • Form 1-2: Consortium Member Planned Registration Form
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1次審査

First Screening

Declaration of Participation and Submitted for First Screening

Please submit the declaration of participation and Documents to be Submitted for First Screening using the form below, attaching the required documents.
The username and password required to log in to the form below will be sent to prospective applicants by email.

Registration acceptance period

2024.11.22（Fri）

2024.12.13（Fri）

  • Declaration of Participation and Submitted for First Screening Form

    ※The declaration of participation and submission for first screening has been closed.

Submission Documents

Declaration of Participation and Oath

  • Form 3-1-1: Declaration of participation and oath for individual corporations（Updated on December 3, 2024）
  • Form 3-1-2: Declaration of participation and oath for consortiums（Updated on December 3, 2024）
  • Form 3-2: Consortium member declaration of participation and oath（Updated on December 3, 2024）
  • Form 3-3: Application for Changes in Consortium Member Planned Registration

First-stage screening documents

  • Form 4-1: Business results and engineer deployment system（November 5, 2024 Partially revised）
  • Form 4-2: Engineer's career, etc.
  • First proposal submission document (A2 size, 2 vertical pages)
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Q&A

If you have any questions, please contact us using the form.

Registration acceptance period

2024.10.24（Thu）

2024.11.15（Fri）

  • Question Form

    ※Questions are closed

Submission Documents

  • Form 2: Questions regarding recruitment guidelines

Answers

Answers to your questions are posted below.

  • Scheduled for updates as needed.

Updated on November 20, 2024

Works that passed the first screening

The works that passed the first screening are listed below.

  • Please refrain from screenshotting, reprinting, or reusing works that passed the first screening.
Registration number G423

Registration number

G423

Registration number G439

Registration number

G439

Registration number G445

Registration number

G445

Registration number G503

Registration number

G503

Registration number G758

Registration number

G758

審査委員会

Judging Committee

A Judging Committee is set up to performing judging of proposals, selection of the top proposer, etc. in the competition. Convening of the Judging Committee is as follows.

Convening of the Judging Committee

地元調整

Local Coordination

Maebashi City Center Creative City Promotion Council

In collaboration with Gunma Prefecture, the city of Maebashi has taken the lead in establishing this council. Its aim is the operation of comfortable, safe public transportation adapted to new means of mobility such as MaaS, as well as the creation of walkable road spaces focused on pedestrians and integrated with cityscape designs, along and near the Zelkova tree-lined street leading from JR Maebashi Station to Gunma Prefectural Office.
Through the council, the city will strive to form consensus with local residents.

Summary of the Council proceedings

・Summary of the Council proceedings
* Under preparation

Urban Planning Conference

In order to reach consensus with people in areas not participating in the Creative City Promotion Council, urban planning meetings are being held to solicit opinions.

First Urban Planning Conference

We conducted a questionnaire survey and an open house concerning
"Urban Planning between the Prefectural Office and Maebashi Station."

Second Urban Planning Conference
(September 13 and 15, 2024)

We conducted reports on the outcomes of the questionnaire survey and open house, and briefings on matters including considerations demanded by the community.

お問い合わせ

CONTACT

Please contact us using the form.

Important Notices

Depending on the content of your inquiry, we may not be able to reply.
Please be aware of this before making your inquiry.

Below is a Q&A of frequently asked questions.
Please check before contacting us.

動画

MOVIE

Innovate in GUNMA with us

Innovate in GUNMA with us

Competition site introduction video

Competition site introduction video