Project title
Street art role in place-making and suburban tourism: Evidence from Osaka, Japan
Research Unit
Primary investigator
Co investigators
Project period
2026/5/7 ～ 2027/3/31
Project summary
This study examines three recent street art projects in Osaka, focusing on their role in the revitalization and tourism development of suburban areas. It aims to empirically examine the impacts of promoting street art on local people and visitors.
Adopting an explanatory research design, a wearable wristband will be used to record skin conductance of visitors as an index of emotional arousal during a guided tour of street art murals in Osaka, complemented by semi-structured interviews with visitors, locals, and artists to examine their attitudes, experiences, and behavioral intentions toward street art.
The study hypothesizes that street art can serve both as a tool for ‘creative placemaking’ and an ‘alternative tourist’ product to promote local culture, boost tourism, and foster urban revitalization in suburban areas. This research builds on last year’s project, which examined street art as a means of addressing ‘overtourism.’ Empirical findings from this research are expected to clarify the potential of street art in addressing urban, cultural, and socio-economic issues.
