Revitalizing the Namba area

Directly connected to Kansai International Airport, Namba is the gateway to Kansai from the rest of the world, and is one of Japan’s main terminals.

Ever since its founding in 1885, the Nankai Group has positioned Namba as its largest base for business. The company has grown together with the area while aiming to be at the forefront of current trends in community development efforts. Currently, we are promoting the Greater Namba concept, which aims to revitalize a wider area.

In March 2023, we formulated the “Greater Namba Vision “ENTAME-DIVER-CITY ~Meet! Eat! Beat! NAMBA”” to realize the corporate image in 2050 under the “Kyoso 140 Plan” (the Mediumterm Management Plan). This is a declaration of our Group’s longterm, proactive commitment to urban development on the occasion of EXPO 2025 and the opening of the Naniwasuji Line in 2031. We will create the next generation of attractions by responding agilely to the needs of the future decline in the domestic population and the VUCA era. This vision follows the “community development vision to upgrade the urban status of the Namba area with the powers of entertainment and staying,” which was formulated in April 2022 through a public-private partnership.

Namba has three strengths: it is Osaka’s most vibrant “entertainment district,” has urban green space, a downtown area, a “diversity of districts” from pop culture to traditional culture, and a “diversity of people” that attracts a wide range of tourists, leisure travelers, commuters, and residents. What we offer to visitors is experiences that fill their hearts and minds. Namba Parks South opened in July 2023, Namba Station Front Plaza will be partially completed in the fall of 2023, and a program to gather “Machikatsu Cast,” who will be “bearers” of the city, will be launched by the end of 2023. This will help to sustain the enthusiasm of the Namba area by increasing the number of visitors, time spent in town, and frequency of visits.

In 2018, we devised a Greater Namba concept to create a lively location for people to shop around in, by developing the north-south route between Namba Terminal and Shin-Imamiya/Shinsekai. With tourists coming back to Japan, the Expo scheduled for 2025, the integrated resort (IR) set to open in 2029, and the Naniwasuji Line opening in 2031, we are trying to build a place in Namba and Shin-Imamiya for people to visit, stay, and live in, where they can have new encounters and interactions.

Namba is a major hub for transportation, with direct links to Kansai International Airport as well as the Kita and Midosuji areas in Osaka. To reorganize the area in front of the station, which is the face of the station, into an attractive plaza that is suitable as a “gateway to Osaka’s hospitality” that draws international visitors, we are promoting a public-private joint project called the “Namba Station Area Redevelopment Project,” with stakeholders of Osaka City and local regions (fall 2023: the station front plaza will be open to public access ahead of other areas)
By expanding the pedestrian space around the station front, we will connect stations in Namba with the bustling neighborhoods of the surrounding shopping and restaurant districts and Midosuji Avenue, and create a network that encompasses the entire district, while promoting activity and consumption throughout the area to boost its value.

Namba Parks South, which we had been building in collaboration with various companies under the Nambanaka 2-chome Development Project, had its grand opening in July 2023.
By redeveloping an area of approximately 9,000㎡ to the south of Namba Parks and bringing in hotels, stores and offices, we aim to strengthen the functions and promote a new bustling feel to the Namba area, especially in the area to the south of Namba Station.

We are working to revitalize neighborhoods as part of our initiative to expand Namba to the south, as per the basic guideline of Greater Namba.
Currently, the city is promoting the construction of “Southern Crest Namba Minami,” a shared-style corporate dormitory for young employees and transferees of several companies in Ebisuchō, in an effort to create a thriving community and promote the settlement of young people in the area.