Construction of Kobe′s World Cup Venue and the Development of an Urban Resort

The usual definition of and urban resort was a place vastly different from places of daily life such as a theme park or other tourist destination. At the same time, revival of the combination of usual and unusual spaces, in a way like the mixed "Hare"(Special occasion of public event) and "Ke"(Daily life) spaces of communities of old Japan, is part of the idea of urban resorts. And they are places, which start by making a comfortable urban environment for citizens, providing a daily life full of culture and promoting a city′s identity to visitors. if we think about the kinds of structural elements of urban resorts, the usual elements include community, local culture and industry, while the unusual elements include symbols, festivities and interaction. Kobe Wing Stadium is a venue for the 2002 FIFA World Cup hosted by Korea and Japan. The city will build the stadium, but after construction management will be given over to private enterprise, hoping to utilize that sector′s business know how. A competition was held to determine the private executor who would be entrusted with the planning, design, construction and management of the project, considering the conditions of the area, the stadium′s relationship to it and local revitalization. The competition was won by a private enterprise (Kobe Steel Obayashi Group). The them of "Creation of a Sports Community Park" grapples with the large issue of the facility′s relationship with the community. American geographer Yi-fu Tuan coined the word "topophilia" to indicate love of a place. No other word could better describe the desired urban resort nature of the stadium. From this historical perspective it seems that stadiums have great potential as urban resorts. The factor that will determine their success is the attitude of citizens toward them, in short whether they develop topophilia for them or not. We examined the urban resort nature of Kobe Wing Stadium. Regarding daily life, we saw the attempts to revive the local community, the possibility of deepening the local culture and the weakened state of local industry. As a place that is for more than daily life, we saw the certainty of the stadium′s symbolism, its potential as a place for festivities and the test it will face as a space for interaction. Even though several issues are left for future resolution, evaluating Kobe Wing Stadium through these elements of an urban resort, it is clearly founded in the daily life of the community while providing a venue for "Hare"occasions. Fulfilling the roles of an urban resort, it provides many opportunities for local residents to enjoy their and gives visitors a reason to come repeatedly.