. I approached the Jane Jacobs masterpiece with a bit of guilt since I’d never previously read it, even though I’d spent a career as a newspaper reporter covering urban planning issues and am now writing a history of Chicago. About The Death and Life of Great American Cities. To make this eye protection effective at enhancing safety, there should be “an unconscious assumption of general street support” when necessary, or an element of “trust”. 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 Summary at WikiSummaries, free book summaries The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jacobs' book is an attack on “orthodox” modern city planning and city architectural design. • ‘The Death and Life of Great American Cities’ is in no doubt, one of the most inspiring urban planning texts of the 20th century. The Death and Life of Great American Cities. The Death and Life of Great American Cities was described by The New York Times as "perhaps the most influential single work in the history of town planning. These cataclysmic monies, in the absence of gradual money, waste city districts which are indeed fit for city life and possess a potential for rapid improvements. First, districts must serve more than one primary function to ensure presence of people using the same common facilities at different times. Third, buildings should be at varying ages, accommodating different people and businesses which can afford different levels of rents. The differences in ages and shapes of buildings in a neighborhood mean something in terms of not only visual presentation but also of functionality and cost of rent. The Death and Life of Great American Cities Part 2 Summary & Analysis The strategy of rebuilding has not been successful. If you are involved in government, architecture, or design, READ THIS. The first edition of the novel was published in 1961, and was written by Jane Jacobs. The Death and Life of Great American Cities is full of analysis like this and principles that ring true and are explained clearly enough to be memorable. Planning should not mean tearing down and rebuilding. She explores the three primary uses of sidewalks: safety, contact, and assimilating children. This is not achieved in the presumably “safe” city parks - an assumption that Jacobs seriously challenges due to the lack of surveillance mechanisms in parks. Fourth, there should be a dense concentration of people, including residents, to promote visible city life. A neighborhood with a mixture of older and newer buildings tends to have more mom and pop type stores, required for diversity and watchful neighborhood eyes. The Death and Life of Great American Cities is her single-most influential book and possibly, the most influential book on urban planning and cities. Therefore, diversity would be enhanced by keeping those wishing to remain at their choice. She states that “ultimately our failed city neighborhoods are due to failed localized self-government.” The Death and Life of Great American Cities is a no-nonsense guide on how to make cities lively, vibrant, humane places to live and work. Jacobs argues that money has its limitations, incapable of buying inherent success for cities lacking the success factors. The book was published in multiple languages including English, consists of 472 pages and is available in Hardcover format. Unlike the current practice in which the government acts as the landlord, these people can and should be housed by private enterprises in regular buildings, not projects. Intricacy is the variety of reasons people use parks, among them centering or the fact that parks have a place known as their centers. Inspired by the ideals of the Garden City or Le Corbusier's Radiant City, they have dreamt up ambitious projects based on self-contained neighbourhoods, super-blocks, rigid 'scientific' plans and endless acres of grass. Jacobs argues that visual cohesiveness should not be regarded as a goal. A half century after its publication in 1961, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” is a complex document to read. 3 Chapter Summaries - Summary The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations Policy Paradox The Art of Political Decision Making The Birthmark The Battleship Potemkin - The Bell Jar The Death and Life of Great American Cities - The … Streets should be able to effectively ask for help when enormous problems arise. . The reasons for the decay and regeneration of certain city neighborhoods are also examined. Her most famous work, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, is now 50 years old. well as New York. The factors that contribute to decay and the creation of a slum are in place and are operative years before the area is officially declared a slum. Therefore, horizontal structures in city planning would work better than vertical structures, which aim at oversimplifying problems of such complexity. Jane Jacobs provides a candid framework for understanding *what* makes cities work and *why*. Part three of the book is designated to analyzing four forces of decline and regeneration in city cycles: successful diversity as a self-destructive factor, deadening influence of massive single elements in cities, population instability as an obstacle to diversity growth, and effects of public and private money. Jacobs refutes the myths about disadvantages of diversity presented in orthodox planning. The Death and Life of American Cities is primarily about urban planning. Finally Jacobs argues that cities are a problem of organized complexity. Lively, diverse areas encourage walking. Regeneration requires people who want to stay in the area. THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES • , "Until lately the best tbing thllt I w" die to think of in ftlVOr of civilizati07l, apart from blind acceptance of tbe O1'd6 of the univerle, 'WIlf that it 11I4!le ponible tbe artin, the poet, tbe philosopher, II7Id the man of science. Sun, shaded in the summer, should be present in parks, as well as building to enclose parks. The Death and Life of Great American Cities Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to Given the importance of all kinds of diversity, intricately mingled in mutual support, part two of the book explains the conditions for city diversity or the economic workings that produce lively cities. If you are involved in government, architecture, or design, READ THIS. 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