The Death and Life of Great American Cities
50th Anniversary Edition
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The Death and Life of Great American Cities
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Narrated by:
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Donna Rawlins
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Written by:
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Jane Jacobs
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Jason Epstein - introduction
About this listen
Thirty years after its publication, The Death and Life of Great American Cities was described by The New York Times as "perhaps the most influential single work in the history of town planning....[It] can also be seen in a much larger context. It is first of all a work of literature; the descriptions of street life as a kind of ballet and the bitingly satiric account of traditional planning theory can still be read for pleasure even by those who long ago absorbed and appropriated the book's arguments."
Jane Jacobs, an editor and writer on architecture in New York City in the early 60s, argued that urban diversity and vitality were being destroyed by powerful architects and city planners. Rigorous, sane, and delightfully epigrammatic, Jacobs's small masterpiece is a blueprint for the humanistic management of cities. It is sensible, knowledgeable, readable, indispensable.
The author has written a new foreword for this Modern Library edition.
©2011 Jane Jacobs (P)2011 Random House AudioWhat the critics say
1961, Sidney Hillman Prize, Winner
"One of the most remarkable books ever written about the city... a primary work. The research apparatus is not pretentious - it is the eye and the heart - but it has given us a magnificent study of what gives life and spirit to the city." (William H. Whyte, author of The Organization Man)
"The most refreshing, provacative, stimulating and exciting study of this [great problem] which I have seen. It fairly crackles with bright honesty and common sense." (Harrison Salisbury, The New York Times)
What listeners say about The Death and Life of Great American Cities
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Eric L, Montreal
- 2022-12-17
Wonderful reading of a classic on city design
This is a classic book on urban planning. Not being trained in urban planning I can’t give any sort of appreciation of its influence on its field. I’ll only say that as a complete amateur interested in cities, I can totally understand why this book is considered a classic. It is full of pithy and telling observations framed by a most humane conception of the purposes cities are meant to serve. As she indicates at the end, her approach is inductive; she formulates broader principles on the basis of detailed observations. And, as a college professor who spends a lot of time writing and editing peoples’ writing, I found Jane Jacobs’ writing marvellous: full of apt phrases, making accurate use of a rich vocabulary, exceedingly lively. If I were teaching a course on writing I would draw many examples from this book for students to emulate. Finally the reader is excellent - her tone and liveliness fit the writing extremely well. In conclusion I would say this book is well worth listening to for anyone seeking to understand better what makes cities work.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Monique Osborne
- 2020-04-25
A must-read for any avid Reader.
Timeless in that the systems she describes are still here, public vs corporate development, people vs concrete. it doesn't matter what your ideology, reading this book will enrich your understanding of the complexities easily judged as chaos of cities.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 2022-11-24
Refaire une place à la vie de quartier
Déjà, il y a près de 50 ans, Jane Jacobs avait saisi la grande valeur de la vie de proximité.
Aujourd’hui, en partie à cause de notre inertie collective à nous engager dans la transition socio-écologique, ce livre est encore une lecture, ou une écoute, essentielle pour comprendre et agir, comme citoyen, designer ou élu, ce qui fait fait la qualité, ou ce qui est le potentiel, de nos quartiers.
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