Comparative urbanism

Shimokitazawa, the Tokyo equivalent to Greenwich Village, faces the possibility of having a highway split the neighborhood into two. I've never been to Japan, so I'm not sure about these approximations of neighborhood to neighborhood. But what is interesting is that the announcement has catalyzed a preservationist zeal, when culturally, I've been told that progress in Japanese urban planning is typically perceived as tearing down and building up again with little sense of conservation.

Roger K Lewis on the groundscape of the United States vs. Europe and a call for more walking.