How Japan prevented its biggest city from collapsing - Roman Krznaric episode artwork

EPISODE · Jul 31, 2026 · 8 MIN

How Japan prevented its biggest city from collapsing - Roman Krznaric

from TED-Ed · host TED-Ed

Dig into Edo, Japan’s circular economy, and how it helped transform the city into a thriving ecological and cultural center.--400 years ago, Edo was on the verge of ecological collapse. Years of intense logging had led to massive deforestation and the city faced timber shortages, severe erosion, and frequent flooding. But over just a few decades, Edo became one of the most sustainable and efficient cities in history. So, how did this come about? Roman Krznaric explores Edo's transformation into a circular economy.Lesson by Roman Krznaric, directed by Héloïse Dorsan-Rachet.Support Our Non-Profit Mission----------------------------------------------Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreonCheck out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop----------------------------------------------Connect With Us----------------------------------------------Sign up for our newsletter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdNewsletterFollow us on Facebook: http://bit.ly/TEDEdFacebookFind us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitterPeep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram----------------------------------------------Keep Learning----------------------------------------------View full lesson: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-city-that-wasted-nothing-roman-krznaricDig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/the-city-that-wasted-nothing-roman-krznaric/digdeeperAnimator's website: https://www.instagram.com/helo.dr/?hl=fr Music: https://soundcloud.com/aim-music----------------------------------------------Thank you so much to our patrons for your support! Without you this video would not be possible! Mi Mi, Thomas Rothert, Brian Elieson, Oge O, Weronika Falkowska, Nevin Spoljaric, Sid Chanpuriya, Anoop Varghese, David Yastremski, Noah Webb, Roberto Chena, Oliver Koo, Luke Pisano, Andrea Gordon, Aleksandar Donev, Nicole Klau Ibarra, Jesse Lira, Ezekiel Raui, Petr Vacek, Dennis, Olivia Fu, Kari Teffeau, Cindy Lai, Rajath Durgada Manjunath, Dan Nguyen, Chin Beng Tan, Tom Boman, Karen Warner, Iryna Panasiuk, Aaron Torres, Eric Braun, Sonja Worzewski, Michael Clement, Adam Berry, Ghaith Tarawneh, Nathan Milford, Tomas Beckett, Alice Ice, Eric Berman, Kurt Paolo Sevillano, Jennifer Heald, Megulo Abebe, isolwi, Kate Sem, Ujjwal Dasu, Angel Alberici, Minh Quan Dinh, Sylvain, Terran Gimpel, and Talia Sari. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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