Jane Jacobs - Urban Visionary

Today, we take for granted the wisdom of renovating old factory buildings into malls or condos, of making once decaying waterfronts like Baltimore's and New York's into vibrant public spaces, of protecting historic buildings under landmark laws, or of building public housing on a human scale rather than as high-rises. In contemporary cities, it is now common for community groups to plant gardens in empty lots, and to buy abandoned apartment buildings from the city for a dollar and fix them up. But these and other urban planning policies and practices have not always been accepted. Before they became widespread practice, they were the visionary ideas of the writer and urban commentator Jane Jacobs. Best known in the United States for her path-breaking efforts in preserving the character of Greenwich Village, Jacobs is the author of the classic 1961 book, "The Death and Life of Great American Cities".