From a shipbuilding town to a creative town
Kitakagaya is a town that thrived on shipbuilding. As industry changed, vacant lots and vacant houses increased. The Kitakagaya Creative Village concept (since 2009) opened them up as bases for art and making. Minna no Uen was born within this concept.
The empty spaces that have grown in the city are not something lacking. They are assets whose value has not yet been drawn out. We have turned vacant lots into farms and shuttered shops into a hub for children, continuing the work of redefining the city's assets from the residents' point of view.
Kagaya Bricola (since 2022)
A local project that began under commission from Osaka Metro. Residents became "correspondents," reporting on the people and places of Kitakagaya and sharing them on Instagram. There was the English conversation event "KAGAYA FUNKY ENGLISH" and the "Kagaya Tabearuki Ichi" food walk held with the shopping street. Before inviting people from outside, the people inside the city enjoy their own city. Residents who became the ones sharing brought in the next ideas. That accumulation became part of Kitakagaya's appeal (the commissioned project has ended).
We share information about Kitakagaya on the website "NOW! Kitakagaya."
What's next
Vacant lots, vacant houses, shopping streets, old buildings. The practice of making use of a city's assets is needed in cities beyond Kitakagaya. If you own idle land, or you work in government or business, please see For Companies and Organizations.
