b'MUDD 24 URBAN NETWORKS|URBAN GATEWAYSA New Waterfront for Hakata PortMasaaki IwamotoThe joint MUDD/Kyushu University Studio commenced with a lecture by Mr Takahisa Nakamura, the Director of the Port and Airport Authority of Fukuoka City. Mr Nakamura presented three questions to the studio: how does Sydney compare with Fukuoka?; how can an understanding of Fukuokas geographic and economic background contribute to the studio?; and, what are the next steps for the waterfront? After comparing the geographical location and population of both cities, Mr Nakamura pointed out that while Sydney has a population of 36 million people within a 3,000km radius, Fukuoka has 1.6 billion! The number of visitors coming to Fukuoka is increasing; over the past Masaaki Iwamoto five years, foreign visitors have increased threefold and the number of cruise ships visiting the port has increased tenfold. Yet Mr Nakamura 121131 noted that in 2017, the number of Sydneys incoming tourists was 3.41 million while Fukuokas incoming tourists numbered 2.98 million. To this he asked, why does Sydney (attracting 9.5% of the population within a 3,000km radius), have more international tourists than Fukuoka (attracting 0.002% of the population within a 3,000km radius) despite having a far smaller population in the catchment area?Mr. Nakamura went on to explain local trends that will have significant influence on the future of Fukuoka as well as its port. First, he pointed out the proximity of Fukuoka to China, Taiwan and Korea - three areas MUDD 24 - Urban Gateways | Urban Networks - Fukuoka Fukuoka design 8pt.indd 8 26/11/2019 5:05:22 PM'