Nice book review David,
one thing it brings to mind is the nature of the perjorative term ‘amateur’ used of Jacobs, versus the alternative ‘non-professional’. For me Jacobs may well have been a lover of cities and of the understanding of all things urban, if that is what ‘amateur' means, but she was certainly a consummate professional in her studies and writing. Mumford on the other hand has always seemed to me not merely ‘non-professional', but strictly ‘unprofessional’ in his account of urban beginnings given the knowledge available to an academic at that time. For anyone who can stand it, I would recommend reading the first chapter of the City in History and contrasting this to Jacob’s account in the Economy of Cities. Then ask which is the more professional and which the greater amateur in its true sense.
Alan
> On 9 May 2016, at 18:42, David Seamon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> Daniele,
>
> Thank you for posting the link to your article, which is most interesting. I’ve quickly browsed the piece and see little mention of space-syntax theory, which obviously is an important sibling to Jacobs’ understanding of the city. As you know, space syntax argues that spatial configuration of pathways is the primary grounding of Jacobs’ street diversity, whereas she sees her four conditions as more or less equal in importance and all required for a robust urban district. Her “short blocks” condition has the most relationship to spatial configuration, though, as far as I know, she had no inkling of the role of integration and deformed grid in contributing to their potential importance.
>
> I’m curious as to where you stand on the relationship of space syntax to your conclusions.
>
> By the way, architectural historian Peter Laurence has just published an excellent book, BECOMING JANE JACOBS (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016) on how Jacobs came to write DEATH AND LIFE… Fascinating and demonstrating once and for all that Jacobs was no mere “amateur” as uninformed critics often claim. I’ve written a review of the book that is available at
>
> https://www.academia.edu/24126432/Review_of_Peter_L._Laurences_BECOMING_JANE_JACOBS_University_of_Pennsylvania_Press_2016_
> Dr. David Seamon
> Professor of Environment-Behavior & Place Studies
> Department of Architecture
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> Kansas State University
> Manhattan, KS 66506-2901
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