Joint Research Project 'Post Growth City Lab' Exploring New Urban Visions in a Depopulating Society Releases First Field Research Report (Beppu Area, Oita Prefecture)

Nippon Steel Kowa Real Estate Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Masahiro Miwa) operates the comprehensive research institute 'Future Style Research Institute'. Together with Zebras and Company Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Directors: Yohei Azakami and Yoshitaka Tabuchi), they are jointly promoting the research project 'Post Growth City Lab' (PGCL), which explores the ideal form of sustainable cities and regions in an era of population decline. Today, PGCL released a report summarizing the results of field research conducted in Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, in October 2025. The report is titled 'First Field Research Report (Beppu Area, Oita Prefecture): 'Hints for a Value Creation Ecosystem in a Hub City, Seen through the Interconnection of Nature, Culture, and Industry''.

This research extracted the urban structure of Beppu City, Oita Prefecture, which has differentiated and re-edited multi-layered industries such as tourism, medical/welfare, art, and international education starting from its unique hot spring resource, as three structural principles (Key Learnings). It revealed that these principles support a value creation ecosystem for a hub city that continuously renews its value even in the face of population decline. Going forward, based on these findings, the project will examine the potential for expansion to other regions and explore new investment opportunities in real estate and business development.

Full report (PDF)

■About PGCL (Post Growth City Lab)

PGCL is a research project launched to address the questions 'What should cities and towns be like in the future?' and 'How should the real estate industry engage with the future of living?' against the backdrop of population decline, climate change, and rapid shifts in global affairs and economic trends.

With NEWLOCAL Inc. and Re:public Inc., companies that develop businesses pioneering the future of regions, as co-creation partners, PGCL combines quantitative macro-research utilizing generative AI with qualitative field research that captures phenomena only observable on-site. It explores intervention opportunities in urban systems from both a 'problem'-oriented and a 'resource/opportunity'-oriented perspective. The research period is scheduled from May 2025 to November 2026, aiming to refine the findings into indicators and models applicable to other cities and regions through field research in a total of five locations.

PGCL adopts a unique analytical framework that views regions as a three-layer structure: 'Block Hubs' (political and economic centers with airports, Shinkansen stations, etc.), 'Hub Hubs' (cores where housing, culture, and industry gather), and 'Small Hubs' (areas supporting primary industries such as farmland, mountainous areas, and coastal regions). This is combined with four elements: 'Economy', 'Culture and Resources', 'Living Infrastructure', and 'Lifestyle'.

■Reason for Selecting Beppu as the First Field Site

On the PGCL analysis matrix, the Beppu area most comprehensively covered the elements of both a hub hub and a small hub. It was determined that by making Beppu City the focus of the concentrated survey, the mutual relationship with the underlying block hub (Oita City) and the dynamism between cities could also be illuminated in a reflective manner.

■Beppu Field Research Implementation Overview

Item Details
Implementation Date: October 14 (Tue) - 15 (Wed), 2025
Main Visited Locations: Beppu Station Market / Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University / NPO Hatto Onpaku / Town Walk (Takegawara Onsen ~ Kiyoshima Apartments) / Beppu City Hall, New Toji (Hot Spring Cure) & Wellness Promotion Office / Taiyo no Ie & Omron Taiyo Co., Ltd. / Fujiya Hotel / Yamaide Art Office
Organizers: Nippon Steel Kowa Real Estate Co., Ltd. Future Style Research Institute, Zebras and Company Co., Ltd.
Co-creation Partners: NEWLOCAL Inc., Re:public Inc.

■Three Key Learnings from Beppu

The survey revealed a unique ecosystem where the value of local resources is continuously renewed, leading to improved regional sustainability. This ecosystem consists of the following three structural principles.

Key Learning 1: Updating Local Resources and Industries
Beppu has layered the single resource of hot springs into two major industries, 'tourism' and 'medical/welfare', and has since expanded into bottom-up tourism models (Hatto Onpaku, BEPPU PROJECT) and 'New Toji/Wellness' centered on scientific evidence through collaboration with companies and research institutions. What should be replicated is not the specific resource itself, but the design of a process that continuously re-edits the interconnection of nature, culture, and industry based on 'who is involved', 'what it is combined with', and 'how value is translated'.

Key Learning 2: Designing a Chain of Challenges that Supports Value Updates
A characteristic of Beppu is that platforms for challenge have been passed down across generations, exemplified by Koichiro Tsuruta, who launched Hatto Onpaku; Haruko Yasunami, who revitalized Fujiya Hotel; and Junya Yamaide, who expanded the creative ecosystem through the BEPPU PROJECT. The important point is not individual success stories, but designing a structure where challenges are born one after another and create a chain, treating this as a 'shared asset', detaching its function from specific individuals and embedding it into the city's structure.

Key Learning 3: Creating Opportunities for Participation in a Sustainable City
The employment of people with disabilities by 'Taiyo no Ie' (founded in 1965, with a rate of about 7% of the city's population, exceeding the national average of about 5%) and the presence of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), which gathers students from about 100 countries, function as inclusive infrastructure that not only 'accepts' diverse human resources but also transforms them into 'bearers' of the region. The question is not how to supplement the labor force, but how to design the soil in which diverse people can continue to have roles.

The value creation ecosystem of the hub city of Beppu, which continuously renews its value while assuming shrinkage, functions through the linkage of these three structural principles.

(Reference Links)
Hatto Onpaku: https://www.onpo.jp/about/organizations/2846
BEPPU PROJECT: https://www.beppuproject.com/
Fujiya Hotel: https://kannawa-fujiya.com/
Taiyo no Ie: https://www.taiyonoie.or.jp/
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University: https://www.apu.ac.jp/home/

■Future Developments

For the second field research, to complement perspectives that could not be fully verified in Beppu, a block centered on Kumamoto City has been selected as the survey target based on the following three perspectives. The research book for the Kumamoto block will also be released upon completion.

- Cities with clear block-hub relationships
- Cities where top-down industrial structures significantly influence urban formation
- Cities that encompass large-scale infrastructure (energy, transportation, etc.)

Through these surveys, the project will proceed with verifying specific investment opportunities in real estate and business development, and developing indicators and models applicable to other cities and regions.

■Comment from the Organizer

Yuki Sato, Future Style Research Institute, Nippon Steel Kowa Real Estate
Through the field research in Beppu, I strongly felt that starting from the single resource of hot springs, the industries have been layered into tourism, medical care, art, and international education.