If you’ve seen my videos about Japan, you may have wondered why it looks the way it does. Today I’m going to explain it through zoning.

Special Thanks to Lisa for her guidance on the topic.

Sources:

1. Urban Land Use Planning System in Japan (English): https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/001050453.pdf
2. Urban Land Use Planning System in Japan (日本語): https://www.mlit.go.jp/common/000234476.pdf
3. Urbanchoze Japanese Zoning: http://urbankchoze.blogspot.com/2014/04/japanese-zoning.html
4. Katsushika Shin-Koiwa Area Zoning Map: https://www.sonicweb-asp.jp/katsushika/map?theme=th_16#layers=dm%2Cth_17&pos=139.86549388299818%2C35.71741330582935
5. Tokyo Zoning Map: https://cityzone.mapexpert.net/ZoneMap?L=13123&N=江戸川区
6. Kyoto Bankruptcy: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/09/20/business/kyoto-bankruptcy-tourism/
7. Kyoto Town Development: https://www.city.kyoto.lg.jp/tokei/cmsfiles/contents/0000281/281300/2shou.pdf
8. Kyoto New Height Limits: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2007/09/02/national/kyoto-enforces-ad-ban-building-height-changes/
9. Kyoto City Landscape Policy https://whc.unesco.org/document/116517
10. Burnaby Zoning Map: https://www.burnaby.ca/services-and-payments/maps-and-open-data
11. Simcity 1989: https://archive.org/details/msdos_SimCity_1989
12. Government illustration: https://www.irasutoya.com/2021/10/blog-post_85.html