This is a sound description of Tokyo and other Japanese cities. As good as the US is at reinventing itsef I doubt this observation could be applied there. Those casual encounters that for instance Tokyo city design allows, are predicated on a consensual society which, for good and for ill may never exist in the US. The price Japan pays for social cohesion is cultural uniformity. It would be great to have the best of both though and no doubt it can be achieved at smaller scale.