Better Neighbourhoods For All : Jane Jacobs Today

In the post 1945 world, urban planning was unknowingly failing those who needed it most. In America, cities were becoming no go areas for pedestrians. In Britain ugly concrete estates were being erected to meet housing crises with traditional streets of terraced housing razed to create them.

Against this planning tide, a solitary woman made a stand. In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, in 1961, she declared that the establishment planners had got it all wrong and were killing cities. Their zoning laws, mega plans and car first attitudes were squeezing the life out of urban areas. They didn’t see that this very life, a mosaic of mixed activities and diverse properties with their heavy foot traffic, was the key to dense, inclusive and sustainable neighbourhoods.

Jane Jacobs saved Greenwich Village from destruction and her analysis changed the planning mindset. Better Neighbourhoods For All takes a fresh look at her principles and asks how relevant her ground-breaking ideas are in today’s climate. Given the demands we face for growth, and the pressure to build fast and at scale, answering this question has never been more important.