Ever since ditching car culture and joining the urbanist cause (on the internet at least but that has to change), I’ve noticed that some countries always top the list when it comes to good urbanism. The first and most oblivious one tends to be The Netherlands but Germany and Japan also come pretty close. But that’s strange considering that both countries have huge car industries. Germany is (arguably) the birthplace of the car (Benz Patent-Motorwagen) and is home to Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Japan is home to Toyota, Honda, Nissan and among others. How is it that these countries have been able to keep the auto lobby at bay and continue investing in their infrastructure?

  • 01011@monero.town
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    31
    arrow-down
    7
    ·
    edit-2
    2 months ago

    Germany should not be in the same conversation as Japan when it comes to urban planning. Germany is very much car centric and most German cities are hideous.

    • cows_are_underrated@feddit.org
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      2 months ago

      You can usually get around the bigger cities without a car but once you leave the cities its horrible. Also, our railway system Is ducked to a point where driving schedules can’t really be calculated anymore.

      • 01011@monero.town
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        2 months ago

        They’re cleaner and more pleasant than German cities. I haven’t been to a Japanese city as gross as Frankfurt.

        • suction@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          1 month ago

          or rather you haven’t been to the parts of Japanese cities which are. In Osaka and Tokyo you can find areas that match Frankfurt 1:1.

          • 01011@monero.town
            link
            fedilink
            English
            arrow-up
            1
            ·
            1 month ago

            It’s pretty easy to avoid those areas in Tokyo. It’s damn near impossible in Frankfurt.

            • suction@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              English
              arrow-up
              1
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              1 month ago

              So you are shifting from them existing to how easy it is to avoid them. See how that makes me take your arguments not for those of a serious person who knows what they’re talking about? Blocked.