the death and life of great american cities 1961

She writes in a clear, vibrant and very personal style. We need to engage our communities, but how all of the pieces fit together in a vibrant, healthy whole is a growing issue in Canada.īefore you move on to the standard texts in urban ministry, read Jacobs. There is very little reflection on how all of the parts come together to make a city. While Jacobs’ book is probably the most influential book for helping us rethink and engage our place in the city, its weakness lies in its almost exclusive focus on neighbourhoods. Jacobs understands the sociology of a healthy community, and this is of immense help to us as we strive to live out Jeremiah 29. Parks, the flow of people and what makes a safe, vibrant community do not work they way most of us were taught to believe that they did. There is a counter intuitive discipline/nature to building neighbourhoods. Where the book really stood out for me was in her unpacking of the reasons why so much of the high density housing projects have been failures, even though they looked good on paper. You will quickly realize how much her work has shaped our largely unrealized dreams, and how powerfully its premises have been proven where older neighbourhoods have been allowed to flourish. For those living in major Canadian urban centres, the book has a familiar ring. Her analysis of older mixed neighbourhoods is wonderfully insightful. Her work has been the standard in the urban and community planning fields for good reason. Anyone who wants to understand how cities work needs to begin here.

Jane Jacobs has accomplished that with this book. Very few books which are as focused as this carry a freshness and relevance beyond a decade, let alone into whole new generations. This summer I pulled out my copy of The Death and Life of Great American Cities and was amazed. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.' But, what does this mean? How do we understand the peace and prosperity of a city in rich and multifaceted ways? Here, I believe, Jane Jacobs has been a voice echoing many of the values of the Kingdom. One of the foundational premises which under girds our missional vision is the passage in Jeremiah 29:7, 'seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Reviewed by Donald Goertz, Tyndale Seminary. The Death and Life of Great American Cities

The death and life of great american cities 1961