Think of Tokyo less as a "chaotic" than as an "emergent" city. This means spontaneous, self-organizing aspects create order from the bottom up. That kind of emergence can be, if not designed, then facilitated. Unfrozen interviews Jorge Almazan, Associate Professor, Department of System Design Engineering, Keio University, and author of ?Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City.?


Intro: Woman from Tokyo, by Deep Purple


Discussed:


Yokocho Alleys


Zakkyo Buildings


Ankyo Streets


Complexity Science ? Geoffrey West


Luis Bettencourt


Cellular Automata ? Stephen Wolfram


The Uses of Disorder ? Richard Sennett


Rather than a Unified Theory of Emergence applicable to all cities, there are transferable principles:



  • Economies of Agglomeration rather than Economies of Scale.

  • Networks versus hierarchies.

  • Inclusive boundaries (mix of uses).


Bar recommendations:


- Bar Usagi, Shibuya


- The Greek Bar, Suginami


Made in Tokyo, Atelier Bow Wow


Outro: Godzilla, by Blue Oyster Cult