Project title
Addressing overtourism issues in global cities: Street art as an alternative tourism product
Research Unit
Primary investigator
Co investigators
CALVI Licia, MITAS Ondrej
Project period
2025/5/1 ～ 2026/3/31
Project summary
This research aims to examine street art as an alternative tourist product that addresses overtourism issues worldwide by investigating the Blind Walls Gallery in Breda, the Netherlands and the YODOKABE Mural Project in Osaka, Japan. The research uses questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews to examine the perceptions and intentions of official stakeholders, street artists, local people, and visitors toward promoting street art as an alternative tourist product in suburban public spaces in Breda and Osaka. The study suggests that the consequences of overtourism entail alternative forms of tourism that can redistribute tourists by broadening the existing tourist products in suburban public spaces.
In many global cities, street art (e.g. murals) is promoted as a creative alternative tourist product that plays a significant role in beautifying public spaces, attracting tourists, and branding cities. Yet, in Japan, there is a misconception of street art types (e.g., murals) and informal graffiti (e.g., tags and throw-ups), which often provoke public controversy and discourage official support for creative street art projects. The research's empirical findings are expected to elucidate the significance of street art in tackling overtourism issues through the place-making of alternative tourist products such as ‘Street Art Destinations’.
Activity report
A significant amount of data was collected for this research project in the cities of Breda and Osaka. In Breda, the collected data included 200+ questionnaires from visitors and 15 semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of local residents, street artists, and the director of the Blind Wall Gallery. In addition to observed data and 400+ photos of murals across the city’s streets. In Osaka, 10 interviews were conducted with local people, artists (including the founder of the YODOKABE project), and the director of the Wall Share association, which manages mural projects in Osaka. In addition, 160+ photos were taken of murals across the city’s streets. While data collection and analysis for the Blind Wall Gallery case have been completed, the researchers plan to extend these efforts to mural projects in Osaka.
The findings of this research project have been published as follows:
- November 17th, 2025: Presentation of the research findings at the CTR 2025 Research Forum, by Dr. Elbarbary (Principal Investigator).
- March 25th, 2026: Presentation of the research findings at the Experience Lab Seminar, Breda University, the Netherlands, by Dr. Ondrej Mitas (Co-Investigator).
