Design of one-dimensional titania with tunable structural hierarchy holds exciting implications for applications such as optoelectronics, sensing and catalysis. Here, we report a general precursor strategy for one-dimensional titania with surface nanoprotrusion and tunable hierarchical structures realized via a titanate route using electrospun titania fibers as precursors. One-dimensional hierarchical hollow titanate (1D-HHT) were first fabricated under mild alkaline hydrothermal conditions from electrospun amorphous TiO2 precursors. The time-dependent evolution of 1D-HHT has been investigated in detail. Concerted effort of alkaline etching and Oswald ripenning are responsible for the surface nanoprotrusion and modulation of structrual hierarchy. Anatase TiO2 with the same hierarchical structures can be achieved by controlled calcination.The as-fabricated one-dimensional titania with varying level of structural hierarchy exhibit about 1.3-1.5 times higher power conversion efficiency than commercial P25 as a photoanode material for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The current work may be extended for more functional TiO2-based materials with tunable structural hierarchy and widen the application range of electrospinning technology for one-dimensional hierarchical structures.