The Death and Life of Great American Cities (Jane Jacobs, 1961) is a provocative, remarkable book that was instrumental in challenging the Modernist conceptions about urban planning and architecture. In the book, Jacobs analyses the characteristics of popular neighbourhoods in the United States, covering topics such as safety, footpaths, parks, identity, functions and diversity, and proposes ideas to create safe, lively and interesting cities.
“How to create a lively, safe city”, is a summary of the main lessons that Jacobs wants to transmit to readers. On a map of Jacobs’ Greenwich Village are overlayed the four factors that, according to Jacobs, define a vibrant city: lively streets, continuous network of street life, open spaces that join instead of separate, and a composition of neighbourhoods with distinctive identities. These strategies are explored through sketches and diagrams, always using New York City as a reference.