Cities 07

In Jane Jacobs’ “The Uses of Sidewalks: Safety“ many of the initial ideas seemed to relate to the Janet Abu-Lughod piece, as both writings contain the idea of the neighborhood taking control and working together to ensure safety. As I read further these similarities end as Jacobs denounces the Islamic city style as futile, while she develops an idea of safe streets through a seemingly positive commercialistic attitude.

Even though the circumstances are different in both the Jacobs and Abu-Lughod piece there is a great emphasis on the creation of a neighborhood and the ability of that neighborhood to work together and live peacefully. In the traditional Islamic city the "neighborhoods handled many of their internal functions on a more ad hoc basis." This sounds a lot like Jacob's idea of placing responsibility of safety in the hands of the community due to inefficiency of the current policing system. City structuring presents itself as one of the major difference in these living styles, according to Jacobs, “It is futile to try to evade the issue of unsafe city streets by attempting to make some other features of locality, say interior courtyards, or sheltered play spaces, safe instead.” Jacobs rather implies that a city sidewalk lined with stores and other businesses, the best way to create public safety. While having public spaces for meeting and the sharing of ideas remains essential for any society, claiming that these areas should be places of business and that they will keep the sidewalks safe, sounds idealized and biased to her neighborhood. The concept of having businesses and stores everywhere reminds me of Louis Wirth when he observes how capitalist profit by “Catering to thrills and furnishing means of escape from drudgery” and that “there is virtually no human need which has remained unexploited by commercialism.” Within the Jacobs piece, it suggests that personal wealth has a role in the way you make your presence in the neighborhood. The idea of people creating “characters” in the local neighborhood businesses, begs the question of how one functions in society when faced with economic limitations. Maybe some homeless people can move into her neighborhood and make their “character” as the homeless person that never gets any attention because the middle class is bustling from business to business chatting with their acquaintances. For Jacobs style of safety to work there must be a complete revamping of neighborhoods into areas where places of business and residential are mixed evenly. Her seemingly perfect neighborhood has evolved naturally into a place that functions, but her ideas do not take notice of neighborhoods and massive apartment complexes that do not have this desired living arrangement. The people living in these places do not have access or power to make structural changes in the neighborhood and only exist in a passive role. I must question the ability for this style of sidewalk protection to work in areas of high poverty and disagree with her promotion of trendy neighborhoods where you make your social presence at the places you are able to perform business.

tyler