Why is the cost of living in Tokyo so stable? Rent for an average apartment in the biggest city in the world has barely risen 20% over the last 15 years. How is a city that is still growing in population able to keep the price of housing so low when compared to other large international cities like New York and London? When you consider how much land is available in Japan vs the United States, it doesn't make much sense.

This story about urban design and city planning explores how policy choices made by the Japanese government in the 60s allowed the biggest city in the world to become the land of housing abundance. And it all comes down to zoning. The Japanese system of zoning is smart and inclusive, and it enables them to build a huge amount of housing. Housing in dense, walkable neighborhoods, where mass transit is viable and where all the amenities you could need are right around the corner.

So what lessons can we learn from Japanese policymakers, and can these lessons be used to solve the American housing crisis?

Sources:
http://urbankchoze.blogspot.com/2014/...

https://marketurbanism.com/2019/03/19...

https://www.planetizen.com/definition...

https://japanpropertycentral.com/2020...

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/re...

https://www.rentcafe.com/blog/rental-...

https://zola.planning.nyc.gov/about/#...

Papers:
http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/21682/1/Nati...

https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/...

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...

https://core.ac.uk/outputs/158357510

Tokyo data taken directly from the Japanese census.