''The Death and Life of Great American Cities''- JANE JACOBS

                                           "THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES"
                                                                         J A N E   J A C O B S


Architecture is an important part of the city's success - naturally, architects are very interested in the state of the city. Jane Jacobs commented on urban design in the 20th century in The Death and Life in Big Cities of America. She advocates that the city must remain pluralistic and resilient, rather than being cleansed and formalized as advocated by many urban planning agencies in the mid-1900s.

Interestingly, Jane Jacobs has not received training from urban designers, planners or architects. Her observations are entirely from her life experiences in cities and cities. Most of her observations are centered around New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and San Francisco. Her thoughts are expressed in a simple and clear way, only from non-architects, but Jacobs is by no means a concise writer.

Many of the ideas put forward by Jacobs may be considered common sense, but these ideas are as important in 1961 as they are today. For example, Jacobs claims that the key to urban security is to have an active street so that people are interested in watching the entertainment on the street – this is her “street gaze” principle, which seems obvious. However, like many of these ideas, you can't "design" it directly - staring at the street requires a lot of variables, including street width, building edge, service diversity, public policy, and more. The final chapter of the book talks about the many variables that need to be considered, because making one or two ideas will never work.

To be sure, criticism of the Jacobs Declaration should be studied by urban designers and architects. For example, many of her ideas are related to the spread of upscale in the city she describes. In fact, Jacobs talks about Boston's northern end being the worst slum in the city, but today it's far from the slums at the northern end - and even think it's a bit of a gentleman. Obviously, many of Jacobs' examples have been developed (or evolved) since the book was written in 1961.


Most importantly, The Death and Life in Big Cities in the United States is a book that should be placed on the shelves of every architect. In 1961, the book successfully challenged popular urban design and revival concepts, including “urban renewal”. Historically, it has played an important role in persuading designers and politicians to reconsider planning policies. Today, this book reminds people of what makes cities successful and what causes unsafe and unpleasant environments.


Sim Gian Wen
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