Death and Life of Great American Cities
By Jane Jacobs
First published in 1961, Jane Jacobs outlines the reasons for the failure of urban core areas in America and attributes it to the unsustainable sprawl of suburban housing, car-dependent culture, and flawed urban design philosophy based on what she calls “Radiant Garden City Beautiful”. It is a term that agglomerates radiant city (Le Corbusier), garden city (Howard), and city beautiful concepts that were conceptualised but never really worked in practice.
Much of the content in the book still resonates to readers today, especially in car-dependent North America. She predicted issues that occurred this decade over a half century ago and even provides specific examples of how urban blight can be avoided. Though it is centred around North American urban design, much of it has to do with social justice, income inequality, and immigrant cultures of the continent.
Though it is composed largely of anecdotal evidence, numbers are provided when necessary and her writing is free of jargon, making a professional subject more approachable to the masses. In fact, it is her intention to make city planning not just an exercise for government and land-owners, but also to arm residents with the facts and knowledge of the various consequences of specific city policies.
While it isn’t a comprehensive guide on the ins and outs of the making of a city, it is more than an adequate introduction to the subject for most lay people. That said, the book was written in the last century, so do keep in mind that some things have changed and some wrongs are being remedied, don’t let her one-sidedness catch you off guard.
