Jane Jacobs and the Birth of Modern Redevelopment

Journalist and activist Jane Jacobs (1916 -2006) is one of the most well-known and respected figures in the history of modern day urban planning. Her efforts to battle the “urban renewal” policies of the 1950s in New York City were monumental and forever changed urban redevelopment policy. As a strong critic of government redevelopment policies, she has personally influenced the way cities and communities throughout America and Canada have been shaped over time.

In the 1950s, local governments had taken an extreme approach to attack the blight and crime that existed in major urban areas like New York City; they were simply demolishing blighted neighborhoods full of poor and minority populations in favor of projects like downtown expressways and, most infamously, Robert Moses’ Brooklyn Battery Bridge. In destroying these communities, Jacobs knew they were also destroying the rich histories and culture of the people who lived there; her efforts to stop such destructive tactics, particularly coming from city planners like Moses, has become one of the most celebrated events in the shift toward modern redevelopment.

Jacobs’ response to such policies were summed up in her treatise entitled "The Life and Death of Great American Cities", which is widely considered to be the most influential book on urban planning. Even President Obama is familiar with her work and its importance in understanding way cities function. It is amazing to see the massive impact a single person can have on the way we build, cherish, and understand our cities we live, work and play in. What really amazes me is that she had no formal background in urban planning, nor did she receive any sort of formal education beyond high school. By simply standing up for what she believed to be right and meaningful, Jacobs was able to influence a major aspect of public policy. Not many people outside the field of urban planning are familiar with her work, and yet her work has remained a staple in the study of the dynamics and functions of cities in our world.

I am very interested in community development and the way culture and social interactions play into the way urban design and a sense of place are shaped in cities, towns, and communities; Jane Jacobs was the one to make this type of analysis a priority in government taking a “place-based” and “community-centered” approach toward cities and planning. She has effected change in so many different aspects of modern day planning. One of her most notable influences has been toward the development of the New Urbanism movement which advocates infill development and denser, more walkable communities. She has always been concerned about the history and culture of places, and as she turned the public eye toward such significant and personal issues, she has paved the way for development to focus on the needs of the people making more friendly, comfortable, and practical neighborhoods.