The decline of our great North American cities — Revisiting Jane Jacobs’ urban insights

Urban resilience and the path to sustainable cities

“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.” — Jane Jacobs

Jane Jacobs, a prominent urban planner born in America and who later lived and died in Canada in 2006, made significant contributions to the field through her innovative ideas on city planning and urban life.

Jacobs is best known for her influential book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, where she critiqued 1950s urban planning policies of slum clearance and the construction of large-scale housing projects, advocating instead for the preservation of community-centric urban areas with mixed uses and vibrant street life. She championed the idea that cities should be designed to reflect the needs and desires of their inhabitants, emphasizing the importance of local economies, pedestrian-friendly streets, and the organic development of neighborhoods.