Cities & Planning

From soft drinks to hot coffee, Japanese vending machines are world-famous. To learn about this unique culture of Japan, read on to find out.

The Japanese are always one step ahead in innovation.

A trip to Japan is guaranteed to blow your mind every few minutes. When foreigners come to Japan for the first time, especially to Tokyo, one thing that is sure to catch their eye is how many vending machines there are. Vending machines are in almost every country in the world. However, what's surprising is how many of them there are in Japan.

Shirts, eggs, flowers, umbrellas, fruits, and fish can all be found in vending machines across Japan. And, that is just the tip of the iceberg.

For decades now, Japanese vending machines have served up an array of interesting, mundane, and useful things. Things like manga. Or bread in a can. Or illicit substances. Or video game piracy cartridges.

A high school student's innovative idea to use proceeds from vending machines to provide local children in need with meals became a reality in Himeji City.

Lobbyists for the Association of Washington Cities flex the group’s influence in Olympia — including the ability to draft policy themselves.

Officials stopped short of full pedestrianization, but do plan a cycle track. Seattle's special department focused on the revamp of the central waterfront has released a proposed concept for how to remake a two-block stretch of Bell Street, one of the final projects in the $781 million program expected to wrap up by 2025. The

A one-time deep clean at Link stations headlines the hygiene. Cleaning at some Sound Transit facilities are set to see an improvement. A newly approved contract amendment with MSNW Group, a third-party janitorial services provider, will enhance service at a slate of agency-operated facilities, including parking garages, Sounder, Tacoma Link, and ST Express. The contract

Mine changed my life. One could change yours, too.

We need to tax/price the pump right out of profitability.

A new report says U.S. households need to buy 14 million extra heat pumps, induction stoves, and other electric alternatives in the next three years.

The L-shaped bridge, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and James Corner Field Operations, stands to make a small stretch of Manhattan much more pleasant for pedestrians.

Mayor Bruce Harrell and Amazon have pushed to add a last-minute alternative for Ballard Link that would drop a station in South Lake Union in order to shift Denny Station west off Westlake Avenue. Transit advocates have condemned the idea for worsening transit connections and adding further delays to an already delayed study. The agency

Riismandel, Kyle. Neighborhood of Fear: The Suburban Crisis in American Culture 1975-2001. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2020. Reviewed by Davy Knittle In July of 1981, six-year-old Ad…

After World War I, in Frankfurt, Germany, the city government was taking on a big project. A lot of residents were in dire straits, and in the second half of the 1920s, the city built over 10,000 public housing units. It was some of the earliest modern architecture — simple, clean, and uniform. The massive

Sound Transit plans continue to avoid taking car lanes to site light rail. Greater displacement, less space for transit-oriented housing, and more dangerous crossings for pedestrians would be the result. The Sound Transit board is poised to vote on alternatives to be studied in the Everett Link Extension’s first round of environmental review. But the

Seattle’s Office of Planning and Community Development (OPCD) has announced that release of the One Seattle Comprehensive Plan will be delayed until September. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the plan had been expected to be released this month - itself a delay from the City's previous April 2023 target. The delay of this crucial

Street improvements are often long and drawn-out affairs. Pop-up projects can show otherwise. Urban projects can take a significant amount of time and financing to implement. However, due to increasing pressures such as climate change, population influxes, and a widespread desire to create walkable, bicycle-friendly neighborhoods, more rapid approaches are often needed. Tactical urbanism is

How many new homes could be created if cities in the Puget Sound region legalized denser housing near transit stations and where would they cluster on a map? A recently released tool from the Urban Institute demonstrates the impact of zoning on housing affordability and accessibility in Puget Sound cities by examining four potential zoning

One of my oldest friends from my youth moved to Mexico City after she finished university. I would visit her and we’d have adventures together. On one trip her mom was also visiting from Spain and we explored all the amazing spots in the region. The Zocolo at the center of the city, Frida Kahlo’s ho

From expertise to equity, companies can optimize their supply chains to do good.

A group civics blog covering town council, education, transportation, and recreation in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, NC.

Amid the noisy bustle of Mexico City, there is one iconic sound echoing on repeat in the background. A recording that blares from trucks looking to buy old household items and appliances, either to fix and resell or to sell for scrap. The crews inside these trucks are essentially scrap metal haulers and the recording

Fifty years ago this September, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson sat poolside at the Watergate with a young Pat Buchanan, who, according to Thompson, was “one of the few people in the Nixon admi…

Editor’s note: Due to the sheer amount of interesting material here we decided to break this into a two-part article. All across Japan, one sight remains ubiquitous – the convenience store. A far, far cry from their American cousins, convenience stores in Japan are without exception, spotless, well-stocked, open 24x7,