[ via Wikipedia ]

Jane Jacobs, (May 4, 1916 – April 25, 2006) was an American-born Canadian urbanist, writer and activist. She is best known for The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), a powerful critique of the urban renewal policies of the 1950s in the United States. The book has been credited with reaching beyond planning issues to influence the spirit of the times.

Along with her well-known printed works, Jacobs is equally well known for organizing grass-roots efforts to block urban-renewal projects that would have destroyed local neighborhoods. She was instrumental in the eventual cancellation of the Lower Manhattan Expressway, and after moving to Canada in 1968, equally influential in canceling the Spadina Expressway and the associated network of highways under construction. 

Their are surprisingly very few people aware of who Jane Jacobs was and how she has influenced the growth and planning of contemporary cities since the era of “Urban Renewal.”  

Jane Jacobs vs. Philadelphia

Robert Moses vs. Jane Jacobs > Rationalism meets advocacy planning.

Can One Woman (Still) Make A Difference? Jane Jacobs and NYC

[ CBC Archives ] Jane Jacobs talking about Toronto and Montreal: 1969

Thomas Urbanism, What I am Looking at