Jane Jacobs

Jane Jacobs (May 4, 1916 – April 25, 2006) was a Canadian and American journalist, author and activist. She changed urban studies. In her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jacobs described how urban renewal did not respect the needs of most city people.

Jacobs made local efforts with regular people to protect existing neighborhoods from "slum clearance". In 1968, she was arrested for inciting a crowd to stop the Lower Manhattan Expressway. In 1968, she moved to Toronto. In Toronto, she fought against building the Spadina Expressway (now Allen Road).

Mostly men work in urban planning and have power. Jacobs was a woman and a writer who criticized the ideas of male experts. So, established planners often said bad things about her personally. She was often described first as a housewife, because she did not have a college degree or any formal training in urban planning. However, her ideas became more and more popular and respected. Professionals such as Richard Florida and Robert Lucas said her work was important.

Jacobs got the second Vincent Scully prize from the National Building Museum in 2000.

Jacobs was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania. She died from a stroke in Toronto at age 89.

References

Category:Writers from Toronto
Category:Journalists from Pennsylvania
Category:People from Scranton, Pennsylvania
Category:American activists
Category:Canadian journalists
Category:1916 births
Category:2006 deaths