The Municipal Art Society, through sponsorship from the Rockefeller Foundation, has launched a multi-faceted project to highlight the relevance of activist and author Jane Jacobs and the urban design principles presented in her classic text, The Death and Life of Great American Cities. The project, titled “Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York,” applies […]

Jane Jacobs was not beholden to any strategy for making change happen. And today, the complexity of the city and its needs are such that activists also employ a diversity of approaches. While some embrace the protest and resistance models that Jacobs used to oppose the Lower Manhattan Expressway, others focus on effecting social, cultural […]

This panel will explore the social and historical context in which Jane Jacobs emerged, while examining the ways in which she has influenced urban design and planning today. What factors contributed to the paradigm shift she abetted? Are her principles still applicable and efficacious? To what extent has the world changed to match her vision, […]

In conjunction with a new exhibition, Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York, eight walking tours will take participants to places associated with Jane Jacobs’ life and work and to communities that illustrate her planning principles — or call them into question. This is the first. Her VillageNo place is more closely associated with Jane […]

In conjunction with a new exhibition, Jane Jacobs and the Future of New York, eight walking tours will take participants to places associated with Jane Jacobs’ life and work and to communities that illustrate her planning principles — or call them into question. Battery Park City: A New Neighborhood RisesThe planners of Battery Park City […]

Jane Jacobs and other activists were canny media strategists, and they worked both mainstream and alternative outlets to spread their messages, affect public perception and try to create both community and change. Today, blogging and other virtual forms of journalism are being used to greater and lesser effect by activists, developers and others trying to […]