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The Death and Life of Great American Cities

The Death and Life of Great American Cities

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Written by Jane JacobsAuthor Alerts: Random House will alert you to new works by Jane Jacobs

  • Format: Trade Paperback, 480 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage
  • On Sale: December 1, 1992
  • Price: $15.95
  • ISBN: 978-0-679-74195-4 (0-679-74195-X)
Also available as a hardcover.
about this book

A direct indictment of the short-sightedness and intellectual arrogance that has characterized much of urban planning in this century, The Death and Life of Great American Cities has become the standard against which all endeavors in that field are measured. Jacobs writes about what makes streets safe or unsafe; about what constitutes a neighborhood, and what function it serves within the larger organism of the city; about why some neighborhoods remain impoverished while others regenerate themselves. Compassionate and always keenly detailed, Jacob's monumental work provides and essential framework for assessing the vitality of all cities.



"This is one of the most remarkable books ever written about the city...It is an antithesis we very much need, for the elements Jacob perceives are precisely the elements we seem bent on eliminating in conventional redevelopment."--William H. Whyte