Urban Planning - The Death and Life of Great American Cities - Book Report/Review Example

Urban Planning: The Death and Life of Great American Cities Introduction The Death and life of Great American Cities is a book written by Jane Jacobs in 1961. The book critically explores what the author regarded as the objectives behind the planning of the American post-war cities. It is Jacobs’ reaction to the futile outcomes of the efforts to renew the American urban settings that had been destroyed by the war. The book is critical on what the author repeatedly refers to as “orthodox” planning and rebuilding of the city. In the four parts that constitute the book, Jacobs’ details the shortfalls of the so-called modernist planners and make a general argument that all the failures in rebuilding stem from the misconception of what cities should be and how they should look like. Her idea, as demonstrated throughout the book is that ideas on how to plan a city should originate from close observation of city life and identification of what people actually need rather than theoretical master plans. This paper will critically evaluate the arguments presented by Jacobs in the four sections of the book; compare the relevance and validity of the claims at a time and today. The first part of the book starts by explaining and disapproving the orthodox ideas of city planning. First, Jacobs disputes the idea behind the Garden City planning as a self-sufficient city; the monumental city beautiful and the Radiant city with its skyscrapers. She argues that these ancient American cities were planned in an orthodox way and were, therefore, irrelevant to how cities work. Using her idea that city planning should be based on the city life, Jacobs explores the sidewalks as a component of urban planning. According to the book, sidewalks have three most important functions; safety, contact and assimilation of the children. In safety, the author explains that the face-to-face interactions of the people in the sidewalks create an aspect of trust among the people who are on the street and even those observing from far in the buildings. This is significantly tied to the aspect of contact. The book explains that the sidewalks comprises of person-to-person interaction and contact that she describes as important in passing out information and messages. The contact is also depicted as a sure method of solving problems related to racial discrimination and segregation. By being in the same pavement or city sidewalk, people have no choice but to interact. In addition, the book explains that the sidewalks provide a better environment that is non-matriarchy for children to get assimilated to the community. In her argument for this, Jacobs explains that the city parks, which are thought to provide this lack enough surveillance. This argument leads to another explanation of Jacobs’ idea of an ideal city park. She argues that a city park ought to provide people with a space they can access for a variety of reasons, centrally located and with both sun and shade. Buildings for security should also enclose the park. In the second section of the book, Jacobs give details regarding the economic workings necessary for the city to be lively or conditions that are necessary for the city to be diverse. Such conditions ensure that city residents are able to associate in mutual support. The first conditions pertain to the function served by the districts. She argues that the districts must be able to serve more than one key function. This will make sure that different people are served at different times using the same common facilities. Secondly, Jacobs argue that buildings should be constructed in such a way that they accommodate different people and businesses in terms of their rent paying ability. Thirdly, she clarifies that city blocks should be made short in order to improve social and subsequently economic developments. Making the blocks shorter allows high pedestrian permeability. The last condition put forth by Jacobs pertains to density of people. She clearly states that, to promote visible city life, there should be a sufficiently dense concentration of people. She stresses that all the four conditions must be met to realise diversity as absence of even one of them creates homogeny and eventually dullness. Jacobs disproves the fabrication about disadvantages of diversity as portrayed in orthodox planning. She clearly states that diversity in itself cannot diminish visual order, however, areas that are superficially diverse looking lack beauty. Further, she argues that people in themselves do not cause traffic congestions; however, it is caused by vehicles. The book identifies three ruinous uses: junk yards which contribute nothing to a general convenience of a district; bars and theatres; and parking lots, gas stations, large or heavy truck depots and gigantic outdoor advertising and enterprises. Diversity should be enhanced to turn junk yards into successful uses by disposing of such disastrous uses. Correctly defining diversity makes an area lively thus encouraging walking. According to the book, diversity should be enhanced so as to build communities and innovative economies. Further, the book explains that conceived disastrous uses such as theaters and bars affect grey areas. However, such uses are harmless in diverse city districts. Since parking lots, gas stations, large or heavy truck depots and gigantic outdoor advertising and enterprises are dangerous because of their wrong scale in certain streets, Jacobs propose that controls be exerted on the scale to alleviate such a use. The third part of the book mainly deals with the analysis of four forces that decline and rejuvenate city cycles. According to the book, such forces include effects of private and public money, population instability, success diversity and massive single facilities. Jacobs argue that by replacing less affluent enterprises and residents with more profitable or affluent ones destroys outstanding successful districts. This has diverse effects on the district as well as other localities. She explains, for instance that this act deprives the specific district such affluent residents and lucrative businesses needed for mutual support. This motive of multiplying already existing businesses and residents erodes a range of businesses and dwellers which is the basis for diversity. This implies that diversity must be carried out with a lot of caution to prevent it from destroying the already existing successful districts since it also has cross-effect on other localities’ diversity. Secondly, the book discusses the cities’ massive single elements and its deadening influence. Jacobs point out that such facilities form vacuums in areas adjacent to their borders. She clearly states that this is possible because the adjoining borders are a terminus of generalised use. She proposes that the city can be kept as city by figuring out cases of border-line. This also helps in unifying the border and the close neighbouring area while keeping the massive element as itself by figuring out special park uses. According to the book, the third factor in the cities’ life cycle is population instability. She argues that population instability is an obstacle to the growth of diversity. For instance, slums remain slums as a result of the unstable population of the dwellers. Instead of helping grow such slums, the resident get out when there is a slight improvement in their status. According to Jacobs, the real slumming process should be aimed at making the residents of the slums to stay and develop their neighbourhoods instead of orthodox planning practices of slum immuring or slum shifting through renewal projects. With respect to private and public money, Jacobs identifies three forms of money: money from the criminal world, money government provides through tax receipts and lastly money arising from credits offered by non-governmental institutions. She argues that money is not able to buy inherent success for cities that lack the necessary success factors. Even though such monies are different, Jacobs clearly states that they all shape spontaneous changes in cities. She argues that these cataclysmic monies waste cities that would have great potential for rapid improvements hence fit for city life. The fourth part of the book mainly deals with factors that are responsible for city performance improvement. These effective factors, according to the book, includes subsidized dwellings, reduction of automobiles in cities, visual order improvement in such a manner that diversity is still upheld, salvaging projects, and reformation of governing and planning districts. Jacobs proposes that those who are not able to afford normal housing be offered subsidized dwellings. She stresses that private enterprises should be ones to provide regular buildings to these people and not by the government that may provide them as projects. Government should not be a landlord in itself as they are the ones that guarantee rent to the landlords. Subsidized dwellings enhance diversity in a number of ways. First, it allows people who cannot afford normal housing to own one. They pay what they can and then the government pays the remaining portion. Tenants’ income level is used to calculate the subsidized rents they are supposed to pay. Secondly, they are not forced to leave should their income level rises; however, their rents are adjusted. Lastly, after many years of paying rent, this factor encourages them to stay and improve their neighbourhood because they are gradually allowed to own their respective houses. Even though these arrangements encourage corruption, Jacobs argue that targets for corruption should be changed by revising and varying methods of subsidized dwellings every eight or ten years. Since cities normally offer multiple choices, she argues that city transport should be accommodated in a bid to prevent the destruction of concentrated land use. She suggests that other desired city uses be given room to automatically control car use and subsequently reduce traffic congestion. This is achieved by using a tactic aiming at widening of sidewalks used by street displays in order to constrict vehicular roadbed. According to Jacobs, visual cohesiveness should not be deemed a goal. However, Jacobs emphasises the significance of the visual enhancements that many streets are likely to make when they picture an intense life. She highlights that visual interruptions and irregularities like irregular patterns having bends be introduced to hinder the endless continuation and repetition that results when streets stretch to the distance. In conclusion, Jacobs maintains that cities being a problem of planned complexity, they are composed of numerous factors that are interrelated. As a result, horizontal structures work better in city planning than vertical structures. This is true because vertical factors only concentrate on oversimplifying difficulties of such complexity. Critical analysis In the first part, Jacobs argues that ancient American cities were planned in an orthodox way and were, therefore, irrelevant to how cities work. She contends that city planning should be based on the city life. Such ancient cities were constructed without using any well laid out plan. This has resulted to loss of pedestrian life. City-making should be a predetermined process by attempting to integrate human scale in the designs. For instance, the success of the Washington DC is mainly due to its predetermined plan. This has helped in solving the social problems such as loss of pedestrian life. This argument was valid in 1961 because there were many problems relating to collective structures of buildings, lack of urban integration and large public spaces. This problem persists as some modern designs still fail to contribute to safe, attractive and clean living environment. For instance, in the Bijlmermeer district in Amsterdam, multi-storey car parks, inner streets and elevated roads have contributed to the district’s social problems. Cities should be planned on the basis of close observation of city life and identifying what people actually need to solve such social problems (Muennig, and Celina, 98). Cities are usually of mainly large and ethnically diverse metropolis hence should be made lively. Using her idea that certain conditions should be met to make the city lively, Jacobs identifies three ruins uses. Such ruins should be disposed of to improve social and subsequently economic developments. This argument was valid in 1961 because cities were dull by then since people were sparsely concentrated. However, today cities like New York are very lively due to the dense concentration of people. Such a city has been constructed in a manner that accommodates different people and businesses in terms of their rent paying ability (Fishman, 145). The success of districts depends on how well both the more affluent and less affluent groups coexist since they need each other for mutual support. A stable population should be maintained to enhance growth of diversity. The argument that slums are caused by orthodox planning practises is very valid. For instance, by 1961, many slums existed. This was so because many residents used to move out as their income level increases. The argument that a slumming process that encourages people to stay should be implemented to help develop such slums is very relevant today. The success of this argument has been witnessed as many slums have been upgraded as a result of slumming process. For instance, there has been a successful upgrade of slum in Durban. Work cited Fishman, Robert. The American Planning Tradition: Culture and Policy. Washington D.C: Woodrow Wilson Center Press, 1999. Print. Muennig, Peter, and Celina Su. Introducing Global Health: Practice, Policy, and Solutions. , 2013. Accessed: November 04, 2014. Web. Read More