town planning

in japan, to the untrained eye, it often looks like there has been no town planning - certainly in the modern cities like osaka. mega-cities are built on medieval layouts with no long term investment and this temporary approach results in dilapidated looking buildings and a general feeling of uncertainty. I thought it would be helpful to outline typical views within the city and to demonstrate why I go to the mountains three times a week whenever possible. I like the photo above which kind of epitomises osaka. essentially it's as rough as a badgers arse. you've got your two tiered overpass which dark rusty shadow allows people from other cities to get home but hangs like a black cloud over the local area, threatening anyone who goes near it. then you have your apartment block with some token features which can't even make their mind up what style they want to be. in the fore-ground, despite the houses being rather ramshackled in appearance, apparently knitted together by telegraph poles, you can be safe in the knowledge that the neighbourhood is tight, that all the plants are kept well and the people proud.