The Death and Life of Great American Cities is Jane Jacobs' landmark critique of modern city planning, and still one of the most stimulating books ever written about how cities actually work.
About This Book
Jacobs set out both to attack the planning and rebuilding orthodoxies of her day and to propose better principles in their place. Through the postwar decades, planners inspired by the Garden City or Le Corbusier's Radiant City had pursued self-contained neighbourhoods, superblocks, rigid schemes and wide expanses of open grass, rarely stopping to observe what worked on the ground.
Against this, Jacobs argued that the real life of a city comes from diversity, a mix of old and new buildings, busy streets and human scale. Only by understanding these fundamentals, she contended, can we build cities that are safe, interesting, economically viable and genuinely liveable. Her observations of street life remain a touchstone for urbanists, architects and anyone who cares about neighbourhoods.
Key Features
- The foundational text of modern urbanism and critique of top-down planning
- Close observation of streets, neighbourhoods and everyday city life
- A sustained argument for mixed uses, density and diversity
- Written with wit and narrative flair as well as rigour
What You'll Discover
- Why diversity of use and building age sustains a neighbourhood
- How busy streets make cities safer
- Where Garden City and Radiant City planning went wrong
- The conditions that allow city districts to thrive
About the Author
Jane Jacobs was a writer and urban activist whose observations of New York street life transformed thinking about cities. Working outside the planning profession, she became one of its most influential critics, and her ideas on density, mixed use and community remain central to urban design.
Specifications
- Format: Paperback
- Pages: 480
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781847926180
- Publisher: Vintage Publishing
Perfect For: Architecture and planning students, urban designers, policymakers and anyone who wants to understand what makes a city work.