Japan's most liveable cities follow four simple rules
Four simple rules behind Japan's most liveable cities
Japan's cities consistently rank among the world's most liveable, and residents say it's down to intentional design. From covered shopping streets that make errands social, to a transit system that works for everyone, to preserving old trees and maintaining courtesy in shared spaces, these four rules reduce the friction of daily life. The result: cities that are easy to navigate, pleasant to live in, and surprisingly calm despite their size.
Liveability often comes down to reducing the friction of ordinary life.
- num42
> 4. Maintain manners in shared spaces
Before reading the article, I guessed that it would ultimately be about human cooperation. Most discussions about human activities seem to come back to how people work together and respect shared spaces.
I also think this idea extends to environmental problems. In the end, they still boil down to human cooperation. If we want to solve environmental problems, we first have to solve problems of human cooperation. Simply put, to reduce conflict between humans and nature, we must first reduce conflict among humans.
- MiroslavPokorny
I have watched a few videos on YT of people riding or walking around Tokyo and other cities. I think its a good example of what life there is really like in terms of seeing the environment, cleanliness, beauty, nature, buildings and more.
The only people in the background that I could see were people, young and old, travelling to and from school, offices, workplaces and so on.
The video was long and if i were to travel one day to Tokyo i would definitely follow the same route. Fresh air, nature, backstreets, all sorts of engineering and views.
How is it possible that a city of 35M in the heart of Tokyo, he barely passed a few bicycles and people outdoors enjoying life during a trip that went all over the place for hours ?
Is that living ?
- stringsandchars
> It's a concept that's difficult to replicate elsewhere, but Lydon compares it to what made old Main Street America so special. Designing at a people-first scale pays off. "The smell of fried croquettes drifting onto the streets, small shops run by the building owners, easy public transit access, a feeling of safety and community for all ages… it's hard to overstate how well this all works."
Honestly, even though I love the idea of Japan and the idealized vision of Japan that's often presented in the media, I can't help thinking that a lot of this stuff can be found much closer to home in Europe. The BBC didn't need to go all the way to Tokyo - they could find this in pretty much any Spanish city.
- timr
I had to laugh when they put a quote from a wheelchair user at the top of the article. Japan is many good things, but friendly to wheelchair users is not one of them.
As western tourists always seem to find out when they land with their gigantic suitcases, many Tokyo train stations require stairs to enter or exit.
- rayiner
Japanese cities are livable in large part because Japanese people are socialized against behaviors that are not conducive to living in close quarters with other people. If you ask them they’ll tell you that.
- zkmon
> get to work without a car, do your shopping on foot
Some cities in Europe have town-centers in every neighborhood within walkable distance. This is extremely valuable for a livable city.
Getting to work without car requires good public transport. Again, some European cities very good at this.
- sys32768
#4 "Maintain Manners" is hardly simple.
- MyHonestOpinon
Looked at the report. They only show the top 10 and bottom 10 cities. Which has very limited use. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Liveability_Index#2026