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How the heck can they deliver so many flats? Poland with 30% of Japan’s population builds roughly 5 times less houses per year and trust me we’re building new b

by b212 7y ago

How the heck can they deliver so many flats? Poland with 30% of Japan’s population builds roughly 5 times less houses per year and trust me we’re building new blocks literally everywhere. Yet flats are getting much more expensive every year, it’s cheaper for Londoners to buy flats in London than for Poles to get something in Warsaw. I guess what works for Japan won’t work for European Union as folks from Germany, the UK or France can buy Greek, Bulgarian or Polish flats easily...

jaredklewis 7y ago
> How the heck can they deliver so many flats? > ... > I guess what works for Japan won’t work for European Union as folks from Germany, the UK or France can buy Greek, Bulgarian or Polish flats easily... This confuses me. Af first, you are impressed by the fast rate of construction in Japan and affordable prices in Tokyo. From there, it seems reasonable to speculate that if Poland increased residential construction to be more in line with that of Japan (proportional to population), Poland might also see a reduction in prices. But you instead immediately jump to the conclusion that it wouldn't work because Poland is in Europe. Japan's system works well enough with a population of 125 million. Any particular reason it couldn't scale to support the 500 million in Europe? If foreigners are eager to buy up Polish housing, this is only a problem if Polish housing is scarce. If instead, Poland increases construction until it has a surplus of housing, housing becomes just another export that can be sold at a profit, injecting money into the Polish economy. So why wouldn't it be in Poland's interest to follow the Japanese model?
Tharkun 7y ago
Japanese flats usually don't have central heating. They tend to have a/c in one room. The kitchen is usually tiny by western standards. Often there is no bedroom -- the living room is used for sleeping. In all, 20-30m² flats are pretty common. This is, of course, a lot cheaper to build than 100m² flats with two bedrooms, central heating and a kitchen bigger than most Japanese restaurants. You can't (or rather, propbably don't want) tiny flats unless you live in a city like Tokyo. Where you can find 24/7 convenience stores everywhere, where there's affordable and tasty food to be found everywhere and at almost any time, where public transport is amazing and affordable. Hell, you don't even need a bath in Japan, as there are public baths everywhere. TL;DR invest in your city and smaller, more affordable housing becomes possible and desirable. If you don't, it'll start to feel like USSR housing really quickly.

by b212 7y ago

jaredklewis 7y ago

> How the heck can they deliver so many flats? > ... > I guess what works for Japan won’t work for European Union as folks from Germany, the UK or France can buy Greek, Bulgarian or Polish flats easily... This confuses me. Af first, you are impressed by the fast rate of construction in Japan and affordable prices in Tokyo. From there, it seems reasonable to speculate that if Poland increased residential construction to be more in line with that of Japan (proportional to population), Poland might also see a reduction in prices. But you instead immediately jump to the conclusion that it wouldn't work because Poland is in Europe. Japan's system works well enough with a population of 125 million. Any particular reason it couldn't scale to support the 500 million in Europe? If foreigners are eager to buy up Polish housing, this is only a problem if Polish housing is scarce. If instead, Poland increases construction until it has a surplus of housing, housing becomes just another export that can be sold at a profit, injecting money into the Polish economy. So why wouldn't it be in Poland's interest to follow the Japanese model?

Tharkun 7y ago

Japanese flats usually don't have central heating. They tend to have a/c in one room. The kitchen is usually tiny by western standards. Often there is no bedroom -- the living room is used for sleeping. In all, 20-30m² flats are pretty common. This is, of course, a lot cheaper to build than 100m² flats with two bedrooms, central heating and a kitchen bigger than most Japanese restaurants. You can't (or rather, propbably don't want) tiny flats unless you live in a city like Tokyo. Where you can find 24/7 convenience stores everywhere, where there's affordable and tasty food to be found everywhere and at almost any time, where public transport is amazing and affordable. Hell, you don't even need a bath in Japan, as there are public baths everywhere. TL;DR invest in your city and smaller, more affordable housing becomes possible and desirable. If you don't, it'll start to feel like USSR housing really quickly.