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In that diagram, you see an area of low-density homes that has undergone land rights conversion, where, when two-thirds of the area’s existing homeowners agree, everyone’s right to their land is converted to the rights to an equivalent part of a new building.
This works well to generate substantial, dense amounts of housing, and it's, crucially, democratic.
All the decision-making power was held by those who were directly affected, and not outsiders to the situation.
If 2/3 wanted to upzone, they could, and they did!
This arrangement means that Japan has relatively weak eminent domain, despite building tons.
To understand why, consider a community where owners of different plots, A-H, need to gain access to infrastructure.
Here's the original set-up:
In America’s eminent domain regime, the dominant way to connect these plots to infrastructure would be like this.
The owners of plots A and G had their land expropriated to make way for the road, sidewalks, and other utilities.
The owners of B, D, and E, and to some extent F, were compensated for the loss of parts of their claims through eminent domain, and they benefit through asset appreciation resulting from the new infrastructure.
The owners of C and H fully maintained their properties + benefitted
The system of expropriations and remodeling is not terribly fair, and it operates against the will of many of the people, to the benefit of a lucky few.
Now let’s look at how Japan does it:
With Japan's system of land readjustment, no one is expropriated. Instead, everyone maintains a plot and infrastructure gets built.
People only compromise on size, proximity, to other plots, and so on.
This system is easier to build in and more acceptable to more people.
This system allows for radical urban change while preserving the rights of residents and giving them something that's more likely to actually work for residents.
Take a look at some examples.
Here's Obu-Hantsuki, 1994-2002:
This is a town in the Chiba Prefecture in 1989 on the left and in 2005 on the right.
Or if you're a big nerd, consider this picture.
This is the Tsukuba Express, a rail line that was built--you guessed it!--through the power of land readjustment.
Residents kept their property, got new infrastructure, and millions benefitted!
This whole, dense, area was built with land readjustment.
It went from single-family homes to containing vastly more people, and the people who gave up their stand-alone builds ended up with a lot more valuable property and generally with more floor space.
If you want to build a Tokyo, with lots of homes and lots of infrastructure, you probably need a system like this.
This helps to overcome roadblocks from local interest groups that want to frustrate building, it helps to tamper down on dissent, and it makes scale possible.
Japan is not unique in having a system like this either.
Korea, India, and even Israel all have programs that are similar in terms of being very locally democratic, while also being a (or sometimes, the) major source of new builds and urban infrastructure support.
If you want major infrastructure projects like high-speed rail, something like this is going to be practically your only way to get it done.
Eminent domain is how America's nearly sole success in HSR (Brightline) got built. Good luck going any other way!
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On the other hand, Florida has a looser regulatory environment and they've allowed America's only privately-owned and operated intercity passenger railroad.
For less than half the cost of California's High Speed Rail project, Florida has built lines from Miami to Orlando.
If we want more and better building, with not just homes, but also urban amenities to match, embracing this democratic housing regime makes a lot of sense.
If you want to learn more, see my latest article:
Ultimately emptying out all of Japan so that everyone can move to Tokyo where the TFR is under 1.0 will be very bad for the future of Japan. This is a big part of why, in spite of many efforts of the government, Japan has been unable to get its birthrate up.
But a lot of the unmet demand in the US is for the inventory on the left (esp for families) . . .
Densify cities and more of that inventory becomes available.
The issue is when the people who want those single-family homes also want them in downtowns.
Arrested for fighting eco-fraud! John Sweeney faced jail in 2023 over $3-5M in fake Delta Smelt fines. Now, he’s striking back with a $665M Grok-powered lawsuit.
dailymuck.com/ai-powered
What about in the case of businesses buying property for development? In this case do they only need to buy 2/3rds?
Yes. And companies will often contact homeowners in an area to inform them about the opportunity to vote, size up interest, etc.
Has anyone got proposals for how this could work in England that I could argue when the planning bill reaches the Lords?
This has been a very useful process. I know of quite a few land owners who rather than "downsizing " as is common in the US with old age, follow a oath like this. Also works well to distribute housing in large famalies, where everyone gets a condo/apartment, and some level of
When extreme weather phenomena grip our cities, floodable parks can act as resilient infrastructure, combining beauty with functionality 
Absolutely cursed.
Nobody actually wants to live that close to others given an option.
I don’t care, they don’t have the diversity problems we face here
Our crime rates are way different too
It's taking the Greek 'polykatoikia' system to an even greater extreme.
why would I want to give up land I own to developers to profit from with no profit to myself?
The first ever Grok-powered federal lawsuit was just filed by owner John Sweeney. This historic document outlines a 25-year conspiracy of eco-tyranny in CA that stole $152 million in property and nearly erased the Delta Smelt.
Full story: dailymuck.com/ai-power
Japanese city apartments suck. It’s so weird because my Japanese friends all say that Tokyo apartment units suck; the cost per-sqft being no different than the US. But when you come on X, they think Tokyo apartments are good for some odd reason.
Move to Japan (or Europe) if you want this. I’m keeping my big lot and big back yard.
This addresses probably a worst, most unfair part of eminent domain - losing your once-low-value property at now-market-rate that instantly becomes very valuable due to the development.
Would never fly in the United States. You expect suburban landowners to sign up to convert their homes into a project block? After *losing* their homes for who knows how long while construction goes on? There is no upside to this.
This is an interesting idea, in the US this is still possible, you just need 3/3 to do it. Seems like the 1/3 that are overruled really get the shaft.
We did something similar in SF. We demolished a rundown hotel where people had rent control protections to their small units. Built a new tower on part of the parcel, moved them, then demolished and replaced the motel with a tower
A seemingly trivial act in a protected park set off a chain of events, highlighting the fragility of nature’s ecosystems. Every action has its impact 
Find out more:
Find out more:
I dont think what worked for the japanese will work for a "diverse" america.
Thank you!
You wrote a very good and informative article about zoning laws and regulations on Substack!
Stop being so interesting (please don’t). I will have to subscribe again it seems as a thank you for your work.
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In this episode of MMM, @Louise_m_perry & @lymanstoneky discuss the best urban design for families, whether 'intensive parenting' has really become more common, the true effects of the Pill on fertility rates, and more. youtu.be/JqFh_4OoVjA
Istanbul has a similar process: developers acquire a building (from the building HOA), tear it down, and build it with more units so that the new units finance the construction. Often, building codes requiring strengthening against earthquakes force owners to enter this process.
Same system in Israel, to densify and replace the hastily constructed buildings of the 1950s with earthquake resistant ones. It's called Tama 38.
Here you can see in a row : before, during and after.
California's wetlands are disappearing—and so is the money
90% of California’s wetlands are gone. Billions have been poured into restoration...
What happened, California?
This article lays the groundwork from which we will unMuck the failures and fraud
In your opinion, when should the government participate in housing development?
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I once heard a network engineer comment that the speed of light is too slow, and that has haunted me ever since.
A well-cared-for domestic dog probably has the highest average quality of life any animal species has ever experienced in Earth's history.
Zero work needed to survive, regular walks, modern medical care, etc. They're enjoying fully (human) automated post-scarcity.
I think there’s a parental safety arms race happening where a fringe group decides something is super dangerous, slightly less crazy people are convinced, and within 5 years so few people are doing it that people call the cops on you for it