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Fitis a book about architecture and society that seeks to fundamentally change how architects and the public think about the task of design. Distinguished architect and urbanist Robert Geddes argues that buildings, landscapes, and cities should be designed to fit: fit the purpose, fit the place, fit future possibilities. Fit replaces old paradigms, such as form follows function, and less is more, by recognizing that the relationship between architecture and society is a true dialogue--dynamic, complex, and, if carried out with knowledge and skill, richly rewarding. With a tip of the hat to John Dewey,Fitexplores architecture as we experience it. Geddes starts with questions: Why do we design where we live and work? Why do we not just live in nature, or in chaos? Why does society care about architecture? Why does it really matter?Fitanswers these questions through a fresh examination of the basic purposes and elements of architecture--beginning in nature, combining function and expression, and leaving a legacy of form. Lively, charming, and gently persuasive, the book shows brilliant examples of fit: from Thomas Jefferson's University of Virginia and Louis Kahn's Exeter Library to contemporary triumphs such as the Apple Store on New York's Fifth Avenue, Chicago's Millennium Park, and Seattle's Pike Place. Fitis a book for everyone, because we all live in constructions--buildings, landscapes, and, increasingly, cities. It provokes architects and planners, humanists and scientists, civic leaders and citizens to reconsider what is at stake in architecture--and why it delights us.

Radical changes in the design of housing in post-war Japan had numerous effects on the Japanese people. Public policy toward housing provision and the effects of escalating land prices in Tokyo and a few other very large cities in the country from the mid- to late 1970s onward are examined, but it is dwellings themselves and the slow but steady shift from a floor-sitting to a chair-sitting housing culture in urban and suburban parts of the country that figure most prominently in the discussion. Central to the book is the author's translation of an account written by Kyoko Sasaki, an observant wife and mother, about the housing she and her growing family experienced during the 1960s, and subsequent chapters explore some of the issues that flow from her account. Chief among these are the small size and generally poor quality of the private-sector housing that Japanese of fairly ordinary means could afford to occupy in the early postwar years, the new design initiatives undertaken at about that time by public-sector housing providers and the diffusion of at least some of their initiatives to the housing sector as a whole, and the adjustments that the occupants of housing had to, or chose to, make as the dwellings available to them as renters or as owners changed in character. Attention is also paid to the structural requirements of dwellings and attitudes toward dwellings of diverse types in a country prone to earthquakes.

This study investigates the underexamined role of religious facilities in Japanese public urban planning through a case study of Tama New Town (Tama NT), one of Japan's largest postwar residential developments. While it is commonly assumed that religious facilities are excluded from public planning due to Japan's constitutional separation of religion and state, this study reveals that planners in Tama NT actively considered their inclusion. Through analysis of planning documents, interviews, and spatial configurations, the study identifies two key approaches: the initial attempt to designate plots for new religious facilities within the constraints of the separation principle and the strict land use regulations governing NT development, and the strategic incorporation of existing religious sites into the urban fabric. Although legal and political constraints ultimately prevented the formal establishment of new religious facilities, existing ones were reinterpreted as cultural assets, green space resources, and symbols of local identity. These findings challenge conventional views on secular urban governance and demonstrate a pragmatic, context‐sensitive approach to integrating religious facilities as part of community infrastructure and cultural heritage.

Single-family houses are becoming increasingly outdated.They offer no response to demographic change or to the fact that there are fewer and fewer life-long relationships.They are often too inflexible for new family models or ways of cohabitation.

Japan's condominium sector expanded rapidly along with post-war urbanisation and high-speed economic growth. However, the bursting of the bubble economy in the 1990s undermined land and housing markets. Capital losses on condominiums have been disproportionate, especially in cases of older, smaller or non-centrally located condominiums. This analysis incorporates socio-cultural elements in explaining emerging patterns of fragmentation among homeowners and property values. It illustrates relationships between the meaning of housing commodities and the context of indigenous production and consumption processes in urban Japan. The paper specifically draws upon data from interviews with Japanese homeowners to illustrate the significance of values and perceptions in the modern condominium sector and their relationship to changing socioeconomic conditions.

Japanese and American economists assess the present economic status of the elderly in the United States and Japan, and consider the impact of an aging population on the economies of the two countries. With essays on labor force participation and retirement, housing equity and the economic status of the elderly, budget implications of an aging population, and financing social security and health care in the 1990s, this volume covers a broad spectrum of issues related to the economics of aging. Among the book's findings are that workers are retiring at an increasingly earlier age in both countries and that, as the populations age, baby boomers in the United States will face diminishing financial resources as the ratio of retirees to workers sharply increases. The result of a joint venture between the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Japan Center for Economic Research, this book complements Housing Markets in the United States and Japan (1994) by integrating research on housing markets with economic issues of the aged in the United States and Japan.

Although Japan and the United States are the world's leading economies, there are significant differences in the ways their wealth is translated into living standards. A careful comparison of housing markets illustrates not only how living standards in the two countries differ, but also reveals much about saving patterns and how they affect wealth accumulation. In this volume, ten essays discuss the evolution of housing prices, housing markets and personal savings, housing finance, commuting, and the impact of public policy on housing markets. The studies reveal surprising differences in housing investment in the two countries. For example, because down payments in Japan are much higher than in the United States, Japanese tend to delay home purchases relative to their American counterparts. In the United States, the advent of home equity credit may have reduced private saving overall. This book is the first comparison of housing markets in Japan and the United States, and its findings illuminate the effects of housing markets on productivity growth, business investment, and trade.

Japanese and American economists assess the present economic status of the elderly in the United States and Japan, and consider the impact of an aging population on the economies of the two countries. With essays on labor force participation and retirement, housing equity and the economic status of the elderly, budget implications of an aging population, and financing social security and health care in the 1990s, this volume covers a broad spectrum of issues related to the economics of aging. Among the book's findings are that workers are retiring at an increasingly earlier age in both countries and that, as the populations age, baby boomers in the United States will face diminishing financial resources as the ratio of retirees to workers sharply increases. The result of a joint venture between the National Bureau of Economic Research and the Japan Center for Economic Research, this book complements Housing Markets in the United States and Japan (1994) by integrating research on housing markets with economic issues of the aged in the United States and Japan.

This study investigates the impact of scattered greenery (street trees and yard bushes), rather than cohesive greenery (parks and forests), on housing prices. We identify urban green space from high-resolution satellite images and combine these data with data on both condominium sales and rentals to estimate hedonic pricing models. We find that scattered urban greenery within 100 m significantly increases housing prices, while more distant scattered greenery does not. Scattered greenery is highly valued near highways, and the prices of inexpensive and small for-sale and for-rent properties are less affected by scattered greenery. These results indicate that there is significant heterogeneity in urban greenery preferences by property characteristics and location. This heterogeneity in preferences for greenery could lead to environmental gentrification since the number of more expensive properties increases in areas with more green amenities.

In Japan, the growing number of vacant housing units has become a pressing issue, and an increase in inbound tourism has led to accommodation shortages and rising lodging prices. Converting long-term rentals (LTRs) into short-term rentals (STRs) has emerged as a practical solution; however, empirical evidence on which property attributes are best suited for such conversions remains limited. This study identified the physical and locational attributes of vacant LTRs in Tokyo’s 23 wards, which contributed to improved profitability following conversion. Using an open dataset of 7,772 Airbnb listings from 2024, we developed a hedonic pricing model to estimate rates based on floor area, distance to the nearest station, station ridership, nearby tourist attractions, and administrative districts. The model was applied to 20 930 LTR properties to estimate the profit ratio before and after conversion and identify favorable attributes. Higher STR profitability was linked to lower pre-conversion rent, proximity to high-ridership stations, and locations near many tourist attractions within 10 km, especially in wards near transport hubs (e.g., Setagaya, Shibuya, Meguro, Shinagawa, and Shinjuku) and in well-connected, lower-rent peripheral wards (e.g., Nakano and Suginami). These findings offer insights into housing stock utilization and provide guidance for STR regulations and tourism policies.