Being human is itself difficult, and therefore all kinds of settlements (except dream cities) have problems. Big cities have difficulties in abundance, because they have people in abundance.
Jane JacobsRead
Streets and their sidewalks-the main public places of a city-are its most vital organs.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Public spaces like streets and sidewalks are essential for the life of a city.
In this quote, Jane Jacobs emphasizes the critical role that streets and sidewalks play in the vibrancy and functionality of urban environments. She suggests that these public spaces are not just pathways for transportation but are vital organs that foster interaction, community, and the overall health of a city.
Themes
CityPublic SpacesStreetsSidewalksUrban Life
In practice
Example use cases
In a presentation about urban planning, this quote could illustrate the importance of pedestrian-friendly design.
More from Jane Jacobs
All quotes βIt may be that we have become so feckless as a people that we no longer care how things do work, but only what kind of quick, easy outer impression they give. If so, there is little hope for our cities or probably for much else in our society. But I do not think this is so.
Jane JacobsRead
(The psuedoscience of planning seems almost neurotic in its determination to imitate empiric failure and ignore empiric success.)
Jane JacobsRead
Whenever and wherever societies have flourished and prospered rather than stagnated and decayed, creative and workable cities have been at the core of the phenomenon. Decaying cities, declining economies, and mounting social troubles travel together. The combination is not coincidental.
Jane JacobsRead
This is what a city is, bits and pieces that supplement each other and support each other.
Jane JacobsRead
This is something everyone knows: A well-used city street is apt to be a safe street. A deserted city street is apt to be unsafe.
Jane JacobsRead
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What I had that others didn't was a capacity for sticking to it.
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It is unthinkable in the twentieth century to fail to distinguish between what constitutes an abominable atrocity that must be prosecuted and what constitutes that "past" which "ought not to be stirred up.
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A recurring ideal, I find, is that of simplicity. At times there comes the desire to write with great precision and clarity, words so simple and moving that they bring tears to the eyes.
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