The Economy of Cities

by Jane Jacobs

Overview

In this book, Jane Jacobs, building on the work of her debut, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, investigates the delicate way cities balance the interplay between the domestic production of goods and the ever-changing tide of imports. Using case studies of developing cities in the ancient, pre-agricultural world, and contemporary cities on the decline, like the financially irresponsible New York City of the mid-sixties, Jacobs identifies the main drivers of urban prosperity and growth, often via counterintuitive and revelatory lessons.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525432869
Publisher:	Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Publication date:	07/20/2016
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Jane Jacobs was the legendary author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, a work that has never gone out of print and that has transformed the disciplines of urban planning and city architecture. Her other major works include The Economy of Cities, Systems of Survival, The Nature of Economies and Dark Age Ahead. She died in 2006.

Editorial Reviews

"The Economy of Cities is an astonishing book. It blows cobwebs from the mind, and challenges assumptions one hadn't even realized one had made. It should prove of major importance."— Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, The New York Times"This book is radiant with ideas about what makes cities rich or poor, how cities grow, and how city growth affects national economies."— The New Yorker"What Mrs. Jacobs has done ... is to begin to formulate a badly needed urban myth for our now almost urbanized society...."— Herbert J. Gans, New Republic"The book is... timely, and if it will irritate some of the experts it will also help bring some neglected issues and theories into public focus. This ... has always been Mrs. Jacobs' most notable taient and her most constructive contribution."— Charles Abrams, The New York Times Book Review

From the Publisher

An astonishing book. It blows cobwebs from the mind, and challenges assumptions one hadn’t even realized one had made.”

New York Times

This book is radiant with ideas about what makes cities rich or poor, how cities grow, and how city growth affects national economies.”

The New Yorker

The book is…timely, and if it will irritate some of the experts it will also help bring some neglected issues and theories into public focus. This…has always been Mrs. Jacobs’ most notable talent and her most constructive contribution.”

New York Times Book Review