The death and life of great American cities
Jane Jacobs (Author)
Jane Jacobs critiques the comprehensive modernist approach to urban planning after 1945. By the 1950s, various American cities were pursuing ambitious urban renewal policies, influenced by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier's concept of the "Radiant City." Jacobs sees this being utterly at odds with urban realities, and leading to the destruction of the city as a living community. This futurist vision insisted on the absolute segregation of the city's different activities into separate zones, linked (though also physically isolated) by super-highways set in wide parkland landscaping. The colossal physical destruction that was necessary to implement this vision tore apart the traditional multi-activity street and densely populated neighborhood that Jacobs avers is the bedrock of urban living
Print Book, English, 1961
Random House, New York, 1961