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Is that a function of keeping up with supply by building? And if so, what does Tokyo do structurally that NA cities can't seem to get their act together to mana

Is that a function of keeping up with supply by building? And if so, what does Tokyo do structurally that NA cities can't seem to get their act together to manage it? My understanding is that in Japan generally, there is more of a culture of destroying housing stock and rebuilding. I presume that leads to building with greater density if there is more turnover. And presumably, this also helps with keeping up the infrastructure expansion to support density (transit and utilities). Just a hunch, is it true?

selectodude 6y ago
It’s a good hunch. I think the biggest thing they do is that planning and zoning isn’t done at a local level, it’s done at a national level. So you can’t get your neighbors together to vote out your representative or throw massive amounts of effort at stymieing development. I think some of it is cultural, too. The Japanese are still dealing with the fallout of the real estate crash in 1992, the Nikkei 225 has still yet to reach the peak value from that time, and they just don’t look at real estate as an asset that will always go up in value indefinitely like we do here in the West, so there’s no political will to maintain that.