“Author's Introduction” and “The Uses of Sidewalks: Contact”

By the 1950s, the well-intentioned but misguided efforts of American city planners to create more healthful and efficient living environments was manifesting itself in large-scale urban renewal schemes and central city freeway construction projects. In 1961, Jane Jacobs’ book The Death and Life of Great American Cities was published and immediately shocked the world of city planning. Jacobs (1916–2006) lived in Greenwich Village, where she was raising three children and engaging in neighborhood protests against local renewal projects and freeways. She wrote for the magazine Architectural Forum, where to her surprise and with no training she had been quickly elevated to the status of planning and urban development “expert.” This experience gave her a lifelong skepticism of credentialed expertise. The book railed against abstract “drawing board” planning, and celebrated the dynamic qualities of cities and urban life.