Jacobs was a journalist–not a planner or architect– living in New York City. This text was published toward the end of her long (and ultimately successful) popular campaign against the Lower Manhattan Expressway project proposed by Robert Moses (the chief urban planner for New York City for decades). If you’re interested in the history, see this newspaper article recounting the history in The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/apr/28/sto… or look on Wikipedia. (SKIM)
One thing to keep in mind is that Jacobs’s urban theories– in many respects– echoed architects‘ 1950s-70s drift away from towers-in-the-park / highway urbanism (e.g., Corbusian/CIAM urbanism), and that her texts (along with Christopher Alexander’s Pattern Language) were foundational to the New Urbanist movement that sought to create walkable downtowns and mixed-use developments (like Dodoma, Tanzania, although most New Urbanist projects were in North America). We’ll discuss similarities and differences between Jacbob’s principles and New Urbanist developments in class.
I’ve assigned a chapter from sociologist Sudhir Venkatesh’s book to provide some more nuance to our understanding of US high-rise affordable housing projects.
TO THINK ABOUT: Jane Jacobs’s book was published shortly before major rent increases transformed huge sections of New York. Please speculate: Is Jacobs’s interpretation relevant for contemporary cities, considering how gentrification, speculative urban investment, and tourism have transformed major cities, as they capitalize on many of the same characteristics praised by Jacobs?
Requirements: 300 words
this is a normal 300 words reading response. Please feel free to skim the article cause they are a bit long. In addition, please write the response around the following requirement:
TO THINK ABOUT: Jane Jacobs’s book was published shortly before major rent increases transformed huge sections of New York. Please speculate: Is Jacobs’s interpretation relevant for contemporary cities, considering how gentrification, speculative urban investment, and tourism have transformed major cities, as they capitalize on many of the same characteristics praised by Jacobs?
Answer preview
Based on speculative urban investment, Jacob’s interpretation is relevant to contemporary cities. One of the characteristics praised by Jacob is the intricate sidewalk ballet. It was a complex order that was difficult to replicate. Further, this investment enhances public safety and well-being. The interpretation of Jacob’s vision of urban planning has transformed modern cities through citizen-centric planning frameworks. Jacob’s interpretation has influenced contemporary cities by creating a blueprint plan through the dynamism and complexity of cities. Based on Jane Jacob’s work, the Death and Life of Great American Cities, cities should preserve old buildings to enhance the growth of streets and districts (The Guardian, 2016). In addition, they will attract tourism which transforms contemporary cities. Also, Jacob emphasized the importance of generating diversity in urban districts to promote tourism.
