The Death and Life of the Great American Cities

What did Jane Jacobs write?

the death and life of the great american cities.

From what vantage point does Jacob advocate viewing the city?

ground view, seeing diversity, through people’s experience.

Who is she critquing? How do they view cities?

urban planners and textbook approach, thinking of what cities should be and not what they are. Blaming government planners; bankers and investors.

Does Jacobs think it’s possible to have a science of cities?

There could be one but in a different sense. She’s interested in phycological aspects. Thinks there isn’t one set of rules and that there could be experiments (laboratory of trial, error, success, failure)

Pre - modern cities

Many different kinds, smaller, built on varying amounts of trade, not industrial

Pre-modern social thinking

largely philosophical endeavor, based on observations and small amounts of quantitative data.

What happens when we get industrial cities?

a whole new system of production, an explosion of urbanization, huge number of people living in close proximity, enlighten ideas about science.

The twenty-first century

urbanization becomes focused on the global south; social scientist starts to question the empirical focus and some of the biases of previous generations.