OK, not knowing a lot about the subject, the question is what do you consider working or not working? If you mean why does Tokyo build a lot of high density tall buildings and Houston a lot of sprawl, then the basics is that land is at a high premium in Tokyo. Japan is a nation which is very densely settled in the areas which are appropriate for that, and much of the area is no appropriate for that. So cities tend to be big and dense. High fuel costs mean that long commutes are undesirable. Land is limited. Populations are large. If it's not feasible to build out, you build up.

In Houston land is cheap, fuel is cheap, population densities are low. It's cheap to build out instead of up. So long as the government is willing to pave ever more miles of road, sprawl continues. Many Americans prefer having single family homes, and are willing to pay the price of commuting to get them.

Japan doesn't have no building codes. They in fact have very stringent building codes. But a quick search seems to indicate that they are less concerned with what you build than how you build it. Seems like a lot of restrictions on single family homes, but large buildings mainly need to meet the construction codes, which since that is earthquake resistance, is not a small hurdle. Houston seems to be relying more on contractual zoning restrictions, not a wild west lack of any zoning. So if you own property in Houston, you still can't do any damned thing you want with it. But rather than being because of zoning restrictions, it's because your deed to the land has contractual obligations attached, and the government enforces them.