> That policy is considered the gold standard for simplicity and promoting quality development by planners everywhere in the developed world. Nnnno, they're no

> That policy is considered the gold standard for simplicity and promoting quality development by planners everywhere in the developed world. Nnnno, they're not. In fact, Japanese zoning -- which, incidentally, is set at the federal, prefectural and local level -- is widely regarded as batshit insane. For example, there's a giant garbage incinerator right in on the northern side of central Tokyo (Ikebukuro); taxation makes "used" houses nearly worthless and thus encourages building new cheap crap; draconian building restrictions make Japanese apartments tiny; the well-intentioned "sunshine laws" have all sorts of perverse side effects like making it well-nigh impossible to build tall, high-quality residential buildings in the city center but encourage tall but cheap, crappy ones in the middle of nowhere, etc etc. This Nomura Research report is an excellent read: http://www.nri.com/global/opinion/papers/2008/pdf/np2008137.pdf http://www.nri.com/global/opinion/papers/2008/pdf/np2008137....