Study on station square development at hub stations

At major hub stations in wide urban areas, relative changes have taken place over a long period of time between the quantity and quality of passengers and the functions of railways as a transportation system and a transportation node. However, it is often the case that no drastic review has been made about station squares. What is required from station squares in the future to improve the convenience of railway services and at the same time solve problems in fulfilling their functions as a transportation node? In this paper, methods of station square development are discussed from a practical and broad perspective, as well as in connection with the advanced development of station areas and the development of their surrounding districts. In the process, we refer to a development approach that incorporates an urban square function into the station square and also take the development of Hakata Station as an example.