Jane Jacobs was a strong advocate for spontaneous order. Her observations always remained at the street level, for this is where she was most accustomed. The article “Downtown is For People” was a precursor to her famous book, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities.”
Here are her main (revolutionary) points:
Be observant. “The best way to plan for downtown is to see how people use it today; to look for its strengths and to exploit and reinforce them.”
Listen to the Streets. "Consider what makes a city center magnetic, what can inject the gaiety, the wonder, the cheerful hurly-burly that makes people want to come into the city and linger there.”
Master projects or centralized planning is antiquated. Master projects look "spacious, parklike, uncrowded," and the result across the country is the "same dreary scene...no hint of individuality or whim or surprise, no hint that here is a city with a tradition and flavor all its own…these projects will not revitalize downtown; they will deaden it.”
Downtown activities should be compact and concentrated. A city needs to be dense; open spaces need to be "small and sharp and lively, not large, empty, and boring."
Downtown should be for people, not automobiles. There should be variety and surprises, where every street or shop is intrinsically different.
Smaller is better. Grassroots and localized solutions are vital to cities’ sustenance. Planning and governance need to be devolved to the neighborhood level, moving away from large-scale systems that concentrate authority and power.
Regionalizing makes city government too far removed from the governed.
Spontaneous Order. Interventionism or force are not options in an ethical society. Rather, walkable downtowns, mixed primary uses, short blocks, and buildings of a variety of styles should be formed in a spontaneous manner depending on what the heart of the city (citizenry) desires.
People that observe Jacobs’ work must remember the most important elements. Her advocating for mix-use or walkable downtowns are respectable goals, but we must not overlook on how to get there, and that is through spontaneous upbringing and friendly persuasion.
