the death and life of great american cities by jane jacobs

Each district should have at least one primary use to ensure enough activity within the district at different times.

work, education, museums, public buildings etc are buildings considered as anchors to a district they attract people to a district and create secondary diversity, enterprises which thrive in response to the presence of primary uses.

The need for primary uses, short blocks, aged buildings and sufficient concentration of people. In Part Two ‘The Generators of City Diversity’, Jacobs discusses four conditions, which must be met in order to generate exuberant diversity. If a neighbourhood park fails to attract people, it must become a specialised park, incorporating special attractions to draw people into the space. Jacobs describes parks as ‘volatile spaces’ and like sidewalks need ‘eyes’ and continuous usage but vast open spaces make this much more difficult to resolve. However, the design of such structures neglects the outer sidewalks as the ‘eyes’ are predominantly fixated on the interior spaces leading to a false sense of security. One in particular, which is the creation of child-rearing spaces at the centre of superblocks, where young children can be easily supervised. Numerous issues with garden city planning are raised throughout the book. However, if there is a rapid change in population, the ‘eyes’ on the sidewalk are new, thus safety is jeopardised, particularly where children’s security is concerned. Jacobs expresses the importance of local public characters in neighbourhoods, explaining that they strengthen the ‘eyes’ on the sidewalk and help form a social network, dispersing community news and connecting the local population. For this to happen sidewalks must have three main qualities ‘Clear mark of private and public space must be eyes on the street at all times and sidewalks must have users on it fairly continuously.’

The purpose of the sidewalk is not only to carry pedestrians to and from places, it is a public space in itself and for a district to be successful, pedestrians need to feel safe and secure on sidewalks with strangers. Part One ‘The Peculiar Natures of Cities’ introduces the micro scale of Jacob’s ideas, ‘Sidewalk Safety and Contact’. Divided into four main parts, the book criticises the ideas of what cities should be like by ideologues, such as Le Corbusier and Ebenezer Howard to what they are in reality, complex organic systems. Her home district Greenwich Village, New York is frequently referred throughout the book as it aided her ideas.

Jacobs’s research was undertaken by analysing the districts and neighbourhoods first hand. Upon publication in 1961, the book received mixed reviews, many of which disregarded Jacobs’ ideas because of her lack of a professional architectural or planning qualification. ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ is the first of several books by writer and activist Jane Jacobs.

The death and life of great american cities by jane jacobs