Ep 72: Notes on Tokyo’s Housing, Land Use, and Urban Planning with Shane Phillips

In this episode, Shane combines insights from a recent trip to Tokyo with official data on housing production, affordability, land use policy, and more.

Show notes:

• Twitter thread of photos and observations during my trip.
• Episode 16 of the UCLA Housing Voice Podcast with Jiro Yoshida, on Japanese Housing Policy
• Japanese population by prefecture.
• JR East Yamanote Line timetable.
• Mainichi article on recovering transit ridership on the Yamanote Line.
• The myth of pedestrian infrastructure in a world of cars, by Joe Cortright in City Observatory.
• Data on housing starts vs. existing home sales in the US, Japan, and selected other countries – see pg. 137.
• Report comparing Japanese and United Kingdom homebuilding practices in the early 2000s, by James Barlow and Ritsuko Ozaki
• Construction Physics articles on Toyota’s prefab homes and Japan’s skyscraper factories.
• Yoshida, J. (2021). Land scarcity, high construction volume, and distinctive leases characterize Japan’s rental housing markets. Brookings Institution.
• Suzuki, M., Asami, Y., & Shimizu, C. (2021). Housing rent rigidity under downward pressure: Unit-level longitudinal evidence from Tokyo. Journal of Housing Economics, 52, 101762.
• Excerpt from Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse and What to Do About It, written by Daniel Knowles and published by Abrams Press.
• Center for Neighborhood Technology’s Housing + Transportation Index.
• Iwata, S., & Yamaga, H. (2004). The costs and benefits of tenancy rent control in Tokyo. Institute of Policy and Planning Sciences, Discussion Paper Series, (1081).
• Guide to Japan’s zoning code.
• Urban Kchoze blog post on Japanese zoning.
• Zoning map of Tokyo.