theory

1. BACHELOR OF SCIENCE (HONOURS) IN ARCHITECTURE
THEORIES OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM (ARC61303/ARC2224)
SYNOPSIS: REACTION PAPER (MARCH 2015) [5 MARKS]
NAME: CHIA WEE MIN ID: 0315186
LECTURER: NICHOLAS NG TUTORIAL TIME: 4PM - 6 PM
SYNOPSIS NO: 1 READER TITLE: THE DEATH AND LIFE OF GREAT AMERICAN CITIES
AUTHOR: JANE JACOBS
Based on "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" Jane Jacob mainly attack on the
current city planning and rebuilding which differs from what had been taught from school. It is more
common and closer to how our city works in real life for instance what kind of city streets are safe
and why some slums stay slums but not the others.
Firstly, big cities she said are full of strangers, both residence and strangers should
personally feel secure on street to call it a successful city district. It does not take many incidence to
make the street insecure and it will not be secure just from a vigilant police force, but also enforced
by the people themselves. As the streets of successful city neighborhoods, three qualities should be
achieve, clear demarcation between public and private space, eyes upon streets and continuous and
concentration of users. Jane Jacobs assume that if the neighborhood have nothing in common with
each other except for the piece of land, it considered fail if they failed to manage that piece of land.
According to Isaacs, the neighborhood concept is meaningless if we think of neighborhood as being
a self contained units. Even the most urbane citizens cares about the atmosphere of the street and
district where they lives. According to Jane Jacobs, only three kinds of neighborhood are useful, the
city as whole, street neighborhoods and districts of large size and these three kinds of
neighborhoods have different function but the three supplement each other. Mixed use is essential
for a good city and this harmony should not be break as this is "win win" to both parties. For
instance, if a neighborhood is absent with industries, it would be a disaster for the residents and vice
versa, if the industry is to lose the residents, enterprise is unable to exist. For economy strategies,
the shop blocks should be short and the chances to turn to new corner must be frequent as people
will not opt for the furthest shop from the street. If the turnings are frequent, it gives more accessible
to the shops.
Jane Jacobs classification of city is very different from Kevin Lynch classification of city with his 5
elements. A good city should be a combination of both, on the neighborhoods where Jane Jacobs
highlighted and also the 5 basic elements, path , nodes, districts, landmarks and edges.

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