SSansFiction
The libraryCollectionsJournalStatsFor authors
Sign inJoin now
Sansfiction,

A digital library for books. Made by readers, for readers.

v 2.0 · 2026
The library
  • Discover
  • Collections
  • Book tracker
  • Journal
  • Stats
For authors
  • SF Links
  • Analytics
  • How it works
  • FAQ
Elsewhere
  • X / @sansfiction
  • Privacy
  • Terms
  • Contact
© 2026 SansFiction · Digital · GlobalA quiet room for your reading life.
The libraryCollectionsJournalStatsFor authors
Sign inJoin now →
Navigation
Library
Bookshelf
Journal
Discover
Collections
Tierlists
Stats
Profile
Author Page
Link Builder
Account
Sign in
S
G
BookshistoryThe Death and Life of Great American Cities
Cover of The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs

The Death and Life of Great American Cities,

by Jane Jacobs

Ask AI
Rating4.2/ 5
Ratings54
Pages472
Reading Hours10h
Published1961
LanguageEnglish

§Synopsis

01

Thirty years after its publication, The Death and Life of Great American Cities was described by The New York Times as 'perhaps the most influential single work in the history of town planning ... [It] can also be seen in a much larger context. It is first of all a work of literature; the descriptions of street life as a kind of ballet and the bitingly satiric account of traditional planning theory can still be read for pleasure even by those who long ago absorbed and appropriated the book's arguments.' Jane Jacobs, an editor and writer on architecture in New York City in the early sixties, argued that urban diversity and vitality were being destroyed by powerful architects and city planners. Rigorous, sane, and delightfully epigrammatic, Jacobs's small masterpiece is a blueprint for the humanistic management of cities. It is sensible, knowledgeable, readable, indispensable. —Provided by publisher

Track this book

Add to your library to track progress and write reviews

§Genres
history1young adult1
§Moods
informative1inspiring1reflective1

§About the Author

Jane Jacobs

1 books in catalog

Jane Jacobs (born Jane Butzner; May 4, 1916 – April 25, 2006) was a Canadian and American journalist, author, and activist best known for her influence on urban studies. Her influential book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961) argued that urban renewal did not respect the needs of most city-dwellers. The book also introduced sociology concepts such as "eyes on the street" and "social capital".

Jacobs was well known for organizing grassroots efforts to protect existing neighborhoods from "slum clearance" – and particularly for her opposition to Robert Moses in his plans to overhaul her neighborhood, Greenwich Village. She was instrumental in the eventual cancellation of the Lower Manhattan Expressway, which would have passed directly through SoHo and Little Italy, and was arrested in 1968 for inciting a crowd at a public hearing on the project. After moving to Toronto in 1968, she joined the opposition to the Spadina Expressway and the associated network of expressways in Toronto planned and under construction.

As a mother and a female writer who criticized experts in the male-dominated field of urban planning, Jacobs endured scorn from established figures, who called her a "housewife" and a "crazy dame." She did not have a college degree, or any formal training in urban planning, and was criticized for being unscholarly and imprecise. She was also accused of inattention to racial inequality, and her concept of "unslumming" has been compared with gentrification.

<u>Source</u>: Jane Jacobs. (2016, May 4). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 10:55, May 4, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jane_Jacobs&oldid=718578863

§Genres
history1young adult1
§Moods
informative1inspiring1reflective1

Metadata

ISBN-139780375508738
ISBN-100375508732

Editions and availability

Find The Death and Life of Great American Cities Jane Jacobs in PDF, EPUB, ebook, audiobook, print, or library editions.

Bookshop.orgGoogle Play BooksBarnes & NobleOpen Library

Featured In Lists

Book cover from this collectionBook cover from this collectionBook cover from this collectionBook cover from this collection
Book cover from this collection
Book cover from this collection
Book cover from this collection
Book cover from this collection

Architecture

53 books