“Dull, inert cities, it is true, do contain the
seeds of their own destruction and little else. But lively, diverse, intense
cities contain the seeds of their own regeneration, with energy enough to carry
over for problems and needs outside themselves.”— Jane
Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961)
Urban writer and activist Jane Jacobs was born on this day 100 years ago in Scranton, Penn. She
had no training as a professional planner—a lack that proved to be fortunate,
as it also freed her from professional dogmas. Her vision was empirical—what
she could see with her own eyes. This was the kind of woman who saw that one of
the keys to safe cities was the notion of “eyes on the street.”
If nothing else, New Yorkers particularly owe
her a debt of gratitude for leading the fight against the Lower Manhattan
Expressway, Robert Moses’ mad scheme that would have destroyed Soho and Little
Italy. But The Death and Life of Great American
Cities became a rallying cry for
those who see cities as evolving, living organisms.
Bennett Kelley, host of Cyber Law and Business
Report, has a warm appreciation of Jacobs over at The Huffington Post.
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