Thread by @MikeLydon

Back to NYC - thanks to @sotonobaplace for such an inspiring week exploring #tacticalurbanism, #placemaking in Japan. Here are some thoughts from my time here, with recognition that one week is hardly the time required to understand a city as complex as Tokyo.

I was utterly surprised at how little congestion there is in Tokyo. The transit system, walking, and cycling really ease the pressure on the arterial street network. Speaking of which, we felt such streets are largely overbuilt and should be given back to other uses.

The city has a 15% cycling mode share with almost zero bike infrastructure. What? I think this is largely due to the stark contrast in the city’s street network. Once off the car sewers most streets are narrow, slow, and shared. Additionally, people are allowed to sidewalk ride.

NYC is a vertical city, but it has nothing on Tokyo, especially retail / comercial uses. The 1st 8 floors often include retail/restaurant uses, which violates all logic for the horizontal US city. Elevators and escalators make exploring up as fun as exploring out at ground level.

For an old city, Tokyo is entirely new. I knew this academically, but seeing how few buildings remain from before the WWII was humbling, but also a little shocking too. Today we walked one of the most historic districts - Tanaka - to get a sense of it the city’s past.

The metro system is epic. But it’s owned by the private sector so in a post-war city this means few stations exhibit the soaring civic aspirations of the late 18th or early 19th century. They are equal parts commercial/mobility hub. A preserved Tokyo Station is an exception.

On-street parking is not a thing. See previous comment about Tokyo not having crushing congestion... easy parking is the drug that hooks driving addicts!

So the WiFi on this flight is shit... another 10 or so observations coming once I land at JFK...

Tokyo is a hyper kinetic + impressively efficient city. But this plays out in the public space as an emphasis on movement rather than on lingering/socializing. I’ll note this morning-Saturday-felt a lot different, with many more streets and parks filled with people staying put.

Speaking of movement, Tokyo built its elevated highways in advance of the 1964 Olympic Games. While there is no good location for an urban highway, the unfortunate decision was made to plop them right over the river. They really missed the chance to remove them for the 2020 Games

Put simply, Tokyo’s street network has been designed for either wide/fast or narrow/slow. The latter is pedestrian dominated but shared amongst all users. The mix feels relatively natural but a larger network of pedestrian streets would make the city a lot more comfortable.

Final two thoughts: the city is huge! 38 million people call it home, 20 million_more_than the New York metropolitan area. I didn’t see much of the edge other than the train but even there is dense, with a well defined ruralized edge; I hear western Tokyo is more suburban...

Finally, what is the city but the people!? @atgmiami and I will always remember the warmth everyone showed us in Tokyo. Thank you @sotonobaplace. Oh, and watch for the upcoming release of #TacticalUrbanism Vol 6: Japan!