It's only been a year since I read Jane Jacobs' The Death and Life of Great American Cities, but it quickly established itself as one of those books it feels like I've always known. For nearly fifty years, Jacobs was not only the grand dame of urban planning, but a true public intellectual with a power to find and explore innovative thinking in the interests of society.
She died today, aged 89. Kottke was my first source for the news, while Dan Hill provided a link to this obituary at archinect.com.
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