Article 18 "Jane Jacobs' Radical Legacy"

Jane Jacobs was a very influential person in city planning and development. She didn’t receive any formal education in her field. She began her work by observing and being active within cities. She went up against New York’s “building czar”. In her efforts to stop the “bulldozer bully”, she was arrested and jailed. Her belief was that “Cities are for the people”. She believed that cites need to be built in a manner that will allow for many different aspects, such as social interaction at the street level. In the 1960’s that was more acceptable, we don’t see much interaction among the citizens within a city. But many of her other aspects have been influential. Parks should have benches, it is evident that almost all parks have benched. We also see that cities, like Chicago are using her method of mix use buildings. It is still evident that cities are “untidy, complex and full of surprises”, no tow neighborhoods have the same exact layout. There is always something happening which keeps the cities full of surprises. She was a very influential person in how cities are being planned and built. I do not believe that there is a person who addresses urban issues in the same manner as Jane Jacobs did. I do believe that many people have used her methods for city planning and building.