Jane Jacobs
American-Canadian urbanist and writer (1916 to 2006); author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961).
Jane Jacobs did not write this page. ppll compiled it from their own words, each linked to the source. Is this you? · Report a mistake
What they believe
-
Cities can offer something for everybody only when everybody creates them
Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.
archive.orgSaid c. 1961This on korrents
The bold line is korrents’ wording; the quote is theirs. These one: what they wrote before what they said aloud, one per source, newest first.
Beliefs
Korrents What they believe 10 beliefs — each backed by an exact quote.
Each is a — compiled by korrents.com, not by them: the one-line wordings are korrents', the quotes are theirs.
Recent
Cities can offer something for everybody only when everybody creates them
Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961) Said c. 1961
Old ideas can use new buildings, but new ideas must use old buildings
Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961) Said c. 1961
Beneath the apparent disorder of a working old city is an order that keeps streets safe and the city free
Under the seeming disorder of the old city, wherever the old city is working successfully, is a marvelous order for maintaining the safety of the streets and the freedom of the city.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961) Said c. 1961
Show 7 more
Dull, inert cities hold the seeds of their own destruction and little else
Dull, inert cities, it is true, do contain the seeds of their own destruction and little else.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961) Said c. 1961
A city cannot be a work of art
A city cannot be a work of art.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961) Said c. 1961
Streets and sidewalks are a city's most vital organs
Streets and their sidewalks, the main public places of a city, are its most vital organs.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961) Said c. 1961
A street's trust is built over time from many small public sidewalk contacts
The trust of a city street is formed over time from many, many little public sidewalk contacts.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961) Said c. 1961
Cities are an immense laboratory of trial and error in city building and design
Cities are an immense laboratory of trial and error, failure and success, in city building and city design.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961) Said c. 1961
Treating a city as an architectural problem to be ordered like art substitutes art for life
To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting it into a disciplined work of art, is to make the mistake of attempting to substitute art for life.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961) Said c. 1961
A well-used city street tends to be safe; a deserted one tends to be unsafe
A well-used city street is apt to be a safe street. A deserted city street is apt to be unsafe.
The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Random House, 1961) Said c. 1961
What is a korrent?
A korrent is a belief a person has stated in their own words: one sentence stating the claim, backed by a quote and a source, kept at korrents.com.
Under a name here, the quoted block is what they actually said. The korrent beneath it is the claim those words support, in korrents' wording — tap it to see the record, its source, and who else holds it.
Nobody here wrote their own korrents. They are compiled from public statements, and a person can change their mind, which is recorded too.
About the English under a post
Some people here publish in a language other than English. Where they do, this site shows a machine translation beneath the post, in this typeface — the site's own, not theirs.
The post itself is never changed, moved or hidden: what is set in the serif above is exactly what the person published, and it is what to quote them on. A translation can be wrong in ways that matter, especially about tone.
Only the post's own words are translated. A quoted post, a linked article and a belief on korrents.com are left in their original language.