Statement

The basic strategy of Toshin Development: start with creation of a location

Toshin Development was responsible for opening a full-scale suburban shopping center in Japan in 1969. The place was Tamagawa, a region with a spreading rural landscape at the time, and the facility was the Tamagawa Takashimaya SC. Seeing the oncoming increased motorization of the future, we created this SC in a place that was originally not suitable for commercial facilities. The creation of this large commercial facility therefore became the starting point for urban development in the region, allowing us to take the lead in sustainable growth and development for the surrounding region. At the time, the term “SC” was relatively unknown in Japan, making this a cutting-edge undertaking. This is another indication of the basic strategy employed by Toshin Development: the development of commercial facilities that starts from the creation of the location in which they will be placed, with an eye to the long-term business prospects.

Environmental changes, and future requirements from SC

Today, we are faced with momentous changes in the macro environment. There is a strong awareness around the world of facing down together the common issues faced by humanity, such as changes in the weather and conservation of the Earth’s environment, and the “ethical perspective” can be considered to become even more important as a criterion for selecting a product or brand in the future. There is a growing trend among consumers, relative to the youth of the groups considered: they will become fans and purchase products if they sympathize with the ideals of a company or the activities of a brand, but conversely, if they are unable to sympathize then they will not choose those products, no matter how good they may be.

Furthermore, the expansion of EC has been diversifying retail channels. Many products can now be purchased online, further reducing the need to go to physical stores. Changes in the consuming patterns of consumers are pushing physical stores to also change the way they operate. The past understanding of SC, “a place to shop,” is now starting to be reframed as the “what they can offer apart from for shopping;” in other words, how they can maximize utilization of the location of the facility and provide time and spatial value.

Taking all of this into account, I believe the keywords for consideration of the next generation of SC are going to be “community” and “sustainability.” We need to provide places that customers can visit to share a time or space with other people, or where they can experience or feel ecology in action. Transmitting a message based in these concepts will be absolutely key in acquiring the sympathy of customers.

SDGs as management issues

SDGs must be considered a major management issue of today, not only for our company, but for all organizations, including other corporations and political entities.

For us, the undertaking of SDGs is certainly a major management issue, but it is also one that differs a great deal from the CSR that we have always talked about in the past. SDGs are about more than simply activities that contribute to society; they require revolutionary business measures to be enacted and must be incorporated in a manner that ensures their long-term continuity. It is vital that they be linked from a business strategy perspective to our business itself; such questions include how they can help acquire sympathy and support from our customers and contribute to bringing in new ones, what support they can provide to our clients who bring their stores into our facilities, and how they can be connected to overall increases in efficiency.

Furthermore, as sympathy with the stance taken by a corporation is regarded as key importance in modern society, integrating SDGs into a key part of a company’s undertakings is another form of corporate branding; that is, a way to increase corporate value.

The range covered by SDGs is exceptionally large, and there are many issues tackling such large undertakings, meaning that it is vital to focus on areas in which our own qualities and assets can be leveraged. In order to leverage our assets and characteristics as a developer of commercial facilities, I believe it is vital to maximize our advantage of being “a large facility located in the heart of the city.” Undertaking SDGs that take full advantage of the central location of SC is the natural approach, of course, and I also believe it to be our duty to do so. The relative position for our SDGs falls thus: in the role of SC as a location in the physical world, to create value that can be shared with society as lifestyle infrastructure for the region, and with the intent of acquiring the sympathy and understanding of customers.

Taking this thought a step further, under the theme of a smart community that reveals and revitalizes locality, we will undertake the three following themes in order to create value that can be shared with society. The first is the realization of a “clean & green” living environment for humans. SC will be placed as the leading consumer environment for renewable energy; we will work proactively toward the establishment of green infrastructure, with the aim of achieving the conversion to 100% renewable energy by 2050; and turn SC overall into a source for dissemination of messages targeting environmental conservation.

The second theme is the promotion of changes in society; making it more universal, less stressful, and more eco-friendly. SCs that occupy a large area in their heart of the city can become bases in the case of all sorts of emergencies. They can accept disaster victims or those unable to return home and provide evacuation centers, functioning as bases for the safety and security of the region. This theme is also about forming the core of a smart community—one example being as SC version of MaaS, realizing seamless mobility between the city and SC. The aim here is to create infrastructure and services that can be shared with the entire region.

The third theme is achievement of sustainability though reduction of loss. Regarding such tasks as zero emissions (zero waste), prevention of food loss, and recycling of waste plastics, customers, tenants, and developers need to come together as one, allowing SC to function as terminals for the realization of a sustainable society.

In the coming decade, the speed of these changes can only accelerate further. There are now less than 10 years before 2030, the midpoint in reaching our SDGs goals, and in total close to 30 years before the final goal of 2050. From our current position, however, it is hard to predict the format of society even just a decade into the future. What we can say is that the world of the future will be different from the one in which we currently live: a new society. Also, I believe the coming decade will see a further increase in the breadth of the changes. That means that we need to continually change and evolve. It is no exaggeration to say that the most important quality desired from companies in the future is going to adaptability to change.

When those before us created the Tamagawa Takashimaya SC almost 50 years ago, they weren’t trying to build a big hall like a closed-up box suited to the placement of products, but to develop an SC that was open to the city around it. That contributed to the formation of the image of an environmental SC tied strongly to the region in which it is placed and has allowed us to create such a wealth of varied facilities. This basic strategy is also thoroughly implemented in our SDGs undertakings, as we accept that intent from the past and carry it onward with firm resolve for the future.

Expanding the circle of SDGs from SC

We believe that SC will evolve in the future into CC: community centers. When people visit one, they can meet people they know, come into contact with others, share a time and space while experiencing and feeling various things, and also do some shopping; what we want to create is like this. Thus, the question then becomes what purposes can be created other than purely shopping. A standpoint of SDGs is also vital to create reasons and purposes to come and can even be considered a prerequisite for all corporate activities in the coming modern society. SDGs are not something that show results overnight. The most important thing is to continue them; we all share the same fate, riding on the same ship toward the shared goal of SDGs. While maximizing everything that SC has to offer, we must realize a variety of undertakings regarding SDGs and then expand the circle to which they belong. We therefore believe that it is the role and duty placed upon us, as commercial developers, to revolutionize SC into places that are open to society.

We will work into the future, alongside all of our stakeholders—including customers from the region, our tenant stores, and partner companies—to create the sustainable future of the cities.