The redevelopment of Kyushu University’s former Hakozaki Campus has been named HAKOZAKI BLOCK, with plans for a new district combining housing, a major food destination, schools, healthcare and research facilities. An eight-company consortium announced the name on October 22. The district is scheduled to open in fiscal 2028.
Part of Fukuoka City’s FUKUOKA Smart EAST initiative, the project aims to build on the site’s century-long academic history while introducing new services and technologies into everyday life. Its name draws on city blocks, the former campus’s bricks and building blocks that bring people, knowledge and ideas together.
Food and shopping
A planned food park will showcase Fukuoka and Kyushu’s food culture and agriculture. The two-storey facility, with approximately 9,600 square metres of floor space, will combine a fresh-food market, food hall and restaurants, with events under a large roof. Programming is expected to involve leading chefs from Fukuoka and overseas. The developers forecast around three million or more visits annually; individual food businesses are not named in the project’s fact sheet.
Retail plans include a Royal Home Center with pet-related facilities, workshops and fitness functions, an Edion flagship described as one of its largest in Kyushu, and an Aeon Kyushu food supermarket with specialty shops.
Homes, schools and research
The district is planned for approximately 5,400 residents. Housing will include around 2,000 family-oriented homes for sale and 770 rental homes for single people and two-person households, alongside dormitories and accommodation for students and older residents. Some rentals will be furnished, with multilingual concierge or property-management support. Shared lounges and other spaces will also welcome people from the surrounding community.
Education plans include an international school for Japanese and foreign students, a foreign-language vocational school for approximately 700 students and a separate vocational school for around 200. Details of the international school’s operator and curriculum are not specified.
Healthcare proposals include a 200-bed general hospital, an obstetrics and gynaecology clinic and a clinic mall. Multigenerational facilities would combine elder care, student housing and children’s activities.
BOX FUKUOKA, an approximately 9,400-square-metre innovation facility to be operated by Zero-Ten Park, will offer offices, coworking, event space and a book-and-café area. A neighbouring Life Science Park is intended to attract researchers and health-related businesses.
Walking routes, greenery and connected services
Eight plazas, five streets and covered walking routes will connect the district. Plans prioritize pedestrians, with parking around the perimeter, mobility hubs and demand-responsive buses. The new JR Kaizuka Station is scheduled to open in 2027.
The landscape plan targets a 40% greening ratio and more than 10,000 trees, incorporating existing campus trees, preserved pine woods and the historic Mongol-invasion defensive wall site. Solar power and hydrogen-related trials are also proposed, with carbon neutrality targeted before fiscal 2040.
Planned digital services include facial-recognition payments and building access, personalized health support and transport information through a shared town portal. Users would choose which personal data to share. Advanced communications technology would be tested in stages. Disaster preparations include temporary shelter space and three days of food and drinking water for approximately 4,500 people.
A dedicated management organization would maintain public spaces, coordinate community activities and support trials of new services, drawing on ideas from residents and local businesses.
Fiscal 2028 runs from April 2028 to March 2029; individual facility opening dates have not been detailed. A wall-art unveiling and workshop using extended-reality technology to preview the district are planned for December 12 at Hakozaki Marché, near the former Faculty of Engineering main building.
Source: HAKOZAKI BLOCK media fact sheet, October 22, 2026. Official website.
Images supplied as HAKOZAKI BLOCK project media materials. All renderings are artist’s impressions; designs are subject to change.