In the 20th century, urban observers like Jane Jacobs praised the interactive sensory and social experiences that lie on any good block in Greenwich Village or Back Bay Boston. They cited 19th-century precedent, admiring humanely scaled buildings with their wealth of detail and texture, overlaid with the modern era’s democratically raucous street life. Discovering worthwhile contemporary examples of urban vitality, however, has often meant traveling outside the U.S. After a 13-hour flight to Japan, one can find age-old civic traditions mingling with tomorrow’s, out on the open street.
The first, most obvious lesson—one already familiar to Western audiences—is apparent on any Japanese byway: Low-rise, high-density cities can make humane places to live. The civilized residential heart of Tokyo beats outside the governmental core, a hop away by commuter rail. There, unnamed roads conform with the topography, combining four stories of housing above the odors and colors of streetside shops: fishmonger, pharmacy, sweets, antiques, cheap clothing, hardware repair, flower vendor. From wall to wall, a constantly rolling tangle of baby strollers, conversation, and the errant auto converge in a quotidian version of street-heaven.
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