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
Traffic congestion is caused by vehicles, not by people in themselves.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Traffic congestion is the result of vehicles being on the road rather than the actions of people themselves.
This quote by Jane Jacobs emphasizes that the issue of traffic congestion stems from the physical presence of vehicles on the roads rather than the individual behavior of the people who drive them. It suggests a need to focus on transportation infrastructure and urban planning to alleviate traffic problems instead of placing blame on commuters.
Themes
TrafficCongestionVehiclesUrban PlanningTransportation
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about urban development, one might say, 'As Jane Jacobs noted, traffic congestion is caused by vehicles, not by people in themselves.'
More from Jane Jacobs
All quotes →It 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
Streets and their sidewalks-the main public places of a city-are its most vital organs.
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
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