Overview

Jane Jacobs was a strong advocate of the built environment. She started as a journalist living in New York City during the 1950s when Urban Renewal was transforming the built environment. Urban Renewal is the practice of "improving" the urban environment usually by adding parks, freeways, or shopping malls through established neighborhoods. Historically, residents of these neighborhoods targeted for "renewal" were predominately people of color. While working as a journalist and writing about architecture, Jacobs observed the negative effects of urban renewal efforts on neighborhood character. From these astute observations, Jacobs successfully advocated to protect the rich, diverse urban fabric of New York City that makes it the iconic city it is today. In the movie, Citizen Jane, you will learn about the Jacobs' historic battle to protect NYC neighborhoods. In the chapter from Jacobs seminal reading, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, provides useful considerations is how the design of the built environment affects behavior.

Prospect refuge is a very easy to understand concept that pairs nicely with Jacobs' eyes on the street.

Module Objectives

In this module, our activities, content, and assignments will help you do the following:

Learn about Jane Jacobs' work and The Death and Life of Great American Cities

Module To-Do List

Here's everything you need to do and remember for this module:

Read the selection from Jacobs
Rent and watch the film, Citizen Jane
Ask questions about the material in the Discussion
Turn in notes
Collect final project data
Submit module feedback