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Comment by emodendroket | Hacker News Reader

Yes, there's the one example everyone loves to trot out. Japan is different from the US in a lot of ways and we can't just wave a wand and turn New York into Tokyo (or Cleveland into Sapporo, for that matter).

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It takes the right policies and a lot of time. We have seen American cities become less walkable and more auto-centric in the last ~60 years thanks to policies designed to hollow out urban cores and increase suburban sprawl [1]. We have also seen Amsterdam embrace "human-centric" urban planning, leading to significant transformation toward the vibrant, walkable, bikeable city that Amsterdam is famous for being today [2]. If American cities want to be more like Japanese cities, they can start by looking at the policies that make them possible, such as the relatively-sensible Japanese zoning laws [3].

[1] http://iqc.ou.edu/2015/01/21/60yrsnortheast/

[2] http://sustainableamsterdam.com/2015/12/livable-cities-campa...

[3] http://urbankchoze.blogspot.com/2014/04/japanese-zoning.html

Re #3: It basically makes two points.

That zoning should be more liberal and less specific (stop trying to plan in such fine grain), which makes a lot of sense.

And zoning should be done at the national level. Absolutely laughable in a country as large and diverse as the US.

Do they centralize this function in China? I wouldn't be surprised if they did.

You can, but that magic wand is enforcing a culture of collectivism. If, from early age on, children learn to take on responsibility for society, this is possible.

The US culture of individualism at any price, not giving a single fuck about any other human being, is a significant factor in this.

I don't think that is all there is to it. What about a generally more homogeneous population (not just ethnically but also in terms of income) and essentially single-party rule? A greater acceptance of deficit spending? A much smaller land mass in the first place? The age of the infrastructure? Plenty of other questions.

In NYC you certainly could. It takes banning cars for personal transport and expand the subway. The city would improve tremendously. Not quite like waving a wand, but doesn't require tearing down and rebuilding either.

Japan doesn't ban cars in its cities. Why would doing so reproduce their results?

Tokyo's grid is much finer in the residential areas,and has a calm atmosphere. Manhattan's roads are highways everywhere. A great reduction in noise and increase in safety would make it more pedestrian friendly.

How do you transport 4 kids and groceries on an NYC subway? If elevators exist at all they are pissed-filled containers for mentally deranged homeless. Trains are overcrowded. People making statements like banning cars are likely single people that never had to push a stroller across NYC during rush hour.. or any hour for that matter.

Public transport is ridiculously inefficient when you have to buy more than you can carry or have babies or toddlers or young kids. I suppose we should just eliminate kids as well in order to make the perfect urban utopia?

And what about when it’s 10 degrees in NYC? Walking on freezing streets to stations blocks away isn’t too fun.

Tokyo has an average of 0.5 cars per household, which is on par with NYC. So, how will banning cars suddenly in NYC turn NYC into Tokyo, where cars aren't banned?

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