Key differences

Planning within Japan seems to be very much about building bigger and newer, and about the height and size of their buildings. While I was within Japan I observed the buildings of the three cities of Japan of Sendai, Tokyo and Osaka. Within these three cities, I observed that the buildings were very tall and big with size, and also relatively new. It seems to be that Japan’s approach to building and planning is very much about their economy, and showing off their money, as well as accommodating for their large population, as seen with the public transport system in Tokyo, with trains on the same line departing a single station every three minutes. Japan also didn't seem to have much of a focus on Heritage conservation of buildings, with a lot of the buildings being new, and a lot of the older ones being rebuilt and renewed. I even observed building works being carried out inside an ancient temple, in Kyoto.

In comparison to Australia, Japan seems to be very much contributing a lot of money to their buildings and works of public place, where as Australia has a lot of conserving their heritage and culture.

Another aspect of planning in Japan that I observed which can be comparable to Australia is the planning of areas impacted by a natural disaster. In the Natori area just outside of Japan, a major earthquake followed by a tsunami devastated the area. In this area, the response was to build and minimise the impact if it is happen in the future, by building walls along the beach, and evacuation points for people to run to to escape any future tsunami’s, whereas Australia doesn't seem to have anything to that extent to manage against common natural disasters seen there such as flooding or bushfires.endai  d Osaka. iedbout height and size. nd historical setting in Japan

Stuart Taylor