The Urban Thought of Jane Jacobs - Essay Example

THE URBAN THOUGHT OF JANE JACOBS Jane Jacobs is regarded as one of the foremost stalwarts of urban formulation and a great exponent of infrastructure of cities and the method the cities work or should work. Jane Jacobs' first book was published in the 1960 named The Death and Life of Great American Cities and immediately was recognized as an assaulting figure who shattered all fundamental concepts of urban planning. Soon Jane Jacobs became a cult figure in the context of urban planning methods and settlements with her other offbeat books like The Economy of Cities published in 1969 and Wealth of Nations published in 1984. Both these books were widely read and extremely revolutionary in nature. These books presented an in dept look into the perspective urban economics, growth of open ended methods and the basic essentiality of dynamism in the thought process. In 1992 she published another book named Systems of Survival that looked into the aspects of political philosophy and the interpretation of political philosophies but here also the theme remained attached to the functionality of urbanization and development related to urbanization and its ultimate consequences. The method of Jane Jacobs is quite different from her contemporaries who indulge into the aspects of thought process related to the facet of urban planning. Her basic mode of operation is a combination of different subjects like sociology, journalism and literature here the ultimate result is a well written book the looks at the parameters of a city from the perspective of the street-corners or sidewalks. He is not a person whose perspective or notion about a city develops from the cushion and air conditioned chambered point of view but she is more of a down to earth person when it comes to determining the nature of a city with its vibe and day to day affairs. Jane Jacobs believes that the basic health of a city depends on several variables. According to belief a healthy city must be serendipitous, spontaneous, messy and organic in nature. But at the same time she indicates that the cities to be really healthy they must formulate a planning where there would be use of mixed lands and not just a compilation of concrete structures that have just office parks and business plazas. She believes that the city must have human diversity, a good economic infrastructure and should have an agricultural mode. There should not be only office structure that replace densely populated neighborhoods for city beautification or slum clearance but should be targeted towards redevelopment plan that focus on diversity and well being. In her words "it (cities) should be like itself. Every city has differences, from its history, from its site, and so on. These are important. One of the most dismal things is when you go to a city and it's like 12 others you've seen. That's not interesting, and it's not really truthful." (Steigerwald, 1) It should be remembered in this context that Jane Jacobs never had the luxury of professional training in city planning. In fact the only qualification she had was her diploma from high school. This is an extraordinary feat considering the fact that her radical ideas as published in The Death and Life of Great American Cities reveals the freshness of a mind that indulges deeply into the solution statements of deep rooted problems associated with city planning and improvement. Thus her ideas of the variables to make a city more livable became very popular among many segments of thinkers of the subject and few even started to consider her writing as fundamental as the Bible. However, it should be remembered that the popularity of Jacobs also depended on the activities that she was involved outside the parameters of writing books and her active participation with civic activism and New York protection wings made her yet more popular. It should also be noted that though she was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania she later moved to Toronto and lived there till her last breath. There is however an interesting observation regarding the urban planning of Canada. According to Jacobs "There's a whole region of Canada, the Atlantic Provinces, that has a lot of pleasant little places but doesn't have one single really significant creative city. And the whole area is very poor as a consequence. It would be like a Third World country, that whole area, if it wasn't getting transfer payments and grants of various kinds from the rest of Canada." (Steigerwald, 1) There is another interesting observation of Jane Jacobs and it was in relation to the demographic concentration of some cities of the United States. During the early twentieth century, especially in the first couple of decades, it was found that the population of Indianapolis with specification of African American origin has doubled within a span of 20 years. When calculated it was found that the number increased from around 16,000 to a staggering 35,000. This was the scale of the great migration during the 1900s. It was soon found that the migration of the African American population was most acute in cities like Chicago and Detroit and the chief reason behind this was the principal of opportunity and work. (King, 122) However, it can be enumerated on the present day that the great migration during the 1900s was an effective measure or was extremely instrumental in changing the cultural vibe of these cities. It can be always mentioned that the great migration during the 1900s hardly appeared as a dramatic impact on the resident population because the influx was proportional by a large extent in the southern states than in the northern states. In the northern cities it was found that the population of African-American origin was growing in a rapid state and the most rapid movement was during the decade of the First World War and this is for numerous reasons. (Lamb, 287) The First World War provided the US to gear up sustainable production rates and thus instrumented a huge rise in the industrial sectors. The rise of industry demanded more workers and for the workers it was a great opportunity. As a net result the cities created a center of attention for the population of African-American origin who were already on the hunt for better living and decent jobs. As a logical result the population of African-American origin in Chicago rose by about 70,000 which were roughly equal to about 150% growth. On the other hand the city of Detroit saw an increase of the population of African-American origin by 40,000 making it a growth of about a staggering 615% rise. The chief reason behind this titanic rise for Detroit was that it was fast becoming the auto manufacturing capital of the world with its fast growing auto industry and everything mentioned happened between the time frame of 1910 and 1920. (King, 165) But alongside, Jacobs mentions that the city centers became a place of turmoil. It was not inhabitable for residents. But according to her notion "the New Urbanists want to have lively centers in the places that they develop, where people run into each other doing errands and that sort of thing. And yet, from what I've seen of their plans and the places they have built, they don't seem to have a sense of the anatomy of these hearts, these centers. They've placed them as if they were shopping centers. They don't connect." (Steigerwald, 1) It is but an obvious observation in this context to enumerate the great migration during the 1900s as a simple and logical economic effect. But if taken individually the great migration during the 1900s yields more than just an amalgamation of economic theories. It could be safely noted that the great migration during the 1900s had a deep rooted impact in the decades to follow and the ultimate result was more sociological than economical. The descendents of the great migration during the 1900s were the main force behind the agitations in the later era that yielded human rights and equality. But it had its price too. For example the power of Ku Klux Klan developed as the white fundamentalists tried to retaliate against the new population that was the direct result of the great migration during the 1900s. (Fletcher, 166) However, it could be mentioned that the great migration during the 1900s brought a distinct development within the parameters of the city culture. It was soon found that the abundance of automobiles enabled the white communities to move out of the proper city and reside at the suburbs leaving the population of African-American origin to the older section of the cities making them live nearby to the downtown areas. Thus the cities became a flourishing prospect for the population of African-American origin and as a result businesses, organizations and buildings of black origin became more visible within the cities and the African-Americans started to incorporate themselves within the main stream of the American culture with a distinct identity of their own. (Kar, 99) Jacobs believed that this one of the instrumented factors that developed the aspects and life of US cities. In this context she mentions that "That's one of the worst things about urban renewal. It introduced that idea that you could use those government powers to benefit private organizations. The courts never have given the kind of overview to this that they should. The time it went to the Supreme Court, back in the 1950s, the decision was that to make a place beautiful or more orderly or helpful, government could do what it pleased with eminent domain." (Steigerwald, 1) It is her belief that her long activities and writings have contributed at last in the context of making people understand the difference between right and wrong. According to her perspective things have changed for the good in the last two decades and at present people are more aware about the aspects of city planning. She believes that the people who are responsible and instrumental in making substantial differences to a city are at present more educated in this context. But she regrets in the same context that "there are quite a few cities that are more vigorous and more attractive than they were 10 or 20 years ago. A lot of good things are being done, but it's not universal." (Steigerwald, 1) One of the most important aspects of urban planning is the underlying love associated with the city in the hearts of those concerned. She believes that to make a city better the most important feature is that the residents should love the city. She places an example regarding this as she observes the development of Portland. She noticed the improvement of the waterfront of the city and that too without any gimmicks. Reuse of old buildings is another aspect of Jacobs' philosophy regarding urban planning. She generally argues against the thoughtless destructions of old buildings in order to make way for the newer ones. She mentions about Portland that the citizens of this city are successful in town planning because they have used their skills of urban development with "good, intelligent reuses of the old buildings. They're good at rehabilitation. As far as their parks are concerned, they've got some wonderful parks with water flows in them. It's fascinating. People enjoy it and paddle in it. They're unusual parks. The amount of space they take and what they deliver is just terrific." (Steigerwald, 1) In conclusion it would be relevant to mention that this is the fundamental view point of urbanization from the perspective of city planning in accordance to Jane Jacobs. What she really meant was having a certain amount of love for the city while one plan to make the city better was all that most important feature of a planner backed by common sense and proper intelligence. Having a good heart for the job one does is half the battle won and it is true for any profession and the aspects of urban thoughts are no different. Jane Jacobs remains to this day as the most noted stalwart of urban planning for this specific reason. References: Steigerwald, Bill; Urban studies legend Jane Jacobs on gentrification, the New Urbanism, and her legacy; Reason Magazine; June 2001; Reprinted January 2007; retrieved on 31.03.2007 from http://www.reason.com/news/show/28053.html Fletcher, R; Beliefs and Knowledge: Believing and Knowing; Howard & Price. 2003 Kar, P; History of Borders and related problems of Migration; Dasgupta & Chatterjee. 2006 King, H; International Relations Today; HBT & Brooks Ltd. 2001 Lamb, Davis; Cult to Culture: The Development of Civilization on the Strategic Strata; National Book Trust. 2004 Read More