Zoning is losing its power. New ventures are able to reach a meaningful scale before regulators (and competitors) react. The boundaries between different uses are blurring, with people lodging in apartment buildings, living in hotels, working in restaurants and retail malls, and sleeping or socializing at the office.

Building is a journey into randomness. By venturing mindfully through a wealth of data, collective histories, and economic considerations, there are remarkable synchronicities to be discovered.