Jane Jacob: Life and Death of Great American Cities (1961)

Airplane view of  Dubai
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"This book is an attack on current city planning and rebuilding."

Reading through the article makes us realize how far planning has penetrated our society.  Nowadays, cities are designed to look beautiful from an airplane; massive highway projects cutting through neighborhoods; high rise residential towers with a lot of parking spaces all designed with no co-relation with its users.

Jane Jacobs's point throughout the article is that, this kind of urban planning and lifestyle will make the city lose its vitality, resulting in a loss of its natural essence. She believed the city is an ever-changing organism, by multi-culture and diversity so that economic and social activities mixed with each other produce a radiant city. So, she believes that the city should be seen in the context of urban life rehabilitation, rather than cold figures destroying the city in the name of a large-scale urban redevelopment. A great city values its diversity, and this diversity is needed to maintain a certain environment in the street life.

 In other words, people make cities; so, our plans must fit them and not just the buildings.

City as a living organism

A slow moving blob that is constantly expanding outwards;

 consuming more land and more resources

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Likewise, the street itself does not actually exist, it only refers to the use of building edges. But the "street" is when you think of a first impression of the city or a route to a destination. Cities and suburbs' or towns' biggest difference lies not in its size, but in its city "full of strangers". The most basic elements of the city, according to Jane, is safety in the streets where you can trust to make contact with strangers.