Wednesday, April 26, 2006

H-NET Urban History Discussion List: Remembering Jane Jacobs

(A post announcing the death of the important urban thinker/writer/theorist Jane Jacobs)

It is with great sadness that I must announce that Jane Jacobs has passed away this morning in Toronto. Her contributions to our field of endeavor can hardly be measured, though I am sure that we will all compile a list over the next few days. To me she was undoubtedly one of the sharpest minds of the last half century, not because of the answers she provided about how cities work and should work, but because of the questions she asked and continued to ask. In my own work, I have frequently disagreed with her and those who had adopted her views. However, as a Torontonian, I am eternally grateful for her commitment to reminding us of the very human (and humane) elements of our city (and cities in general), which very much helped the city save itself in the early 1970s.

Kevin Brushett
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Preservation Institute: Jane Jacobs' Writing on the Web

Interviewed by Jim Kunstler in the Metropolis Magazine

The Jane Jacobs Home Page

Urban planning guru Jane Jacobs on the traps we set for ourselves

Wikipedia: Jane Jacobs

Cities and Web Economies

Reason Magazine Interview

CNN Profile

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