Jane Jacobs, ``Cityologist'' extraordinaire
At some point, I'd like to add more material about Jane Jacobs,
including commentary from others and an analysis of the impact she's
had on urban planning. Her first book The Death and Life of Great
American Cities, published in 1961, changed a lot of the ways I
think about cities, and made me see things -- processes, rather -- in
them that I had never noticed before. Thoroughly hooked, I turned
next to The Economy of Cities (1969), prepared for
disappointment because, I thought, an author whose first book is a
classic rarely repeats this success on the second try. Instead, I
discovered an equally important work about the economic processes by
which cities grow and interact with non-urban areas.
Now totally impressed, I read her third and fourth books in quick
succession: Cities and the Wealth of Nations, and Systems of
Survival. They did not disappoint (sorry, I never meant to write
a raving fan page, but why find fault where there is none?).
If you know of any good biographies of her, please
mail me.
In the meantime, here are some other Jane Jacobs sites (and please let
me know if you've found some not listed here). The first one has a
short biography and a bibliography and is a good place to start:
(Back to Karl Fogel's home page.)