A timely revisitation of renowned urbanist-activist Jane Jacobs' lifework, What We See invites thirty pundits and practitioners across fields to refresh Jacobs' economic, social and urban planning theories for the present day. Combining personal and professional observations with meditations on Jacobs' insights, essayists bring their diverse experience to bear to sketch the blueprints for the living city.
The book models itself after Jacobs' collaborative approach to city and community building, asking community members and niche specialists to share their knowledge with a broader community, to work together toward a common goal of building the 21st-century city.
The resulting collection of original essays expounds and expands Jacobs' ideas on the qualities of a vibrant, robust urban area. It offers the generalist, the activist, and the urban planner practical examples of the benefits of planning that encourages community participation, pedestrianism, diversity, environmental responsibility, and self-sufficiency.
Bob Sirman, director of the Canada Council for the Arts, describes how built form should be an embodiment of a community narrative. Daniel Kemmis, former Mayor of Missoula, shares an imagined dialog with Jacobs, discussing the delicate interconnection between cities and their surrounding rural areas. And Roberta Brandes Gratz?urban critic, author, and former head of Public Policy of the New York State Preservation League?asserts the importance of architectural preservation to environmentally sound urban planning practices.
What We See asks us all to join the conversation about next steps for shaping socially just, environmentally friendly, and economically prosperous urban communities.

About the Author
Stephen A. Goldsmith is an urban planner, artist, and scholar, whose wide-ranging projects find their grounding in the wisdom of Jane Jacobs. Lynne Elizabeth is founder and director of New Village Press. She is the past president of Architects/ Designers/ Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR), a public-benefit educational organization founded in 1981 that works for peace, environmental protection, social justice, and development of healthy communities.

Reviews
""It's as if Jane Jacobs' bright eye hadn't dimmed... In the hands of this book's essay writers, new thoughts sprout, all as true to Jane's spirit and inventive urbanity as the gardens (intellectual and physical) she cultivated in her lifetime."" -- Neal Peirce * journalist and Chair, The Citistates Group; author, Boundary Crossers *
""In this book are the testimonials of 'Jane's children'... building on what she began back in the '60s. It's taken a long time, but it's happening."" -- David Byrne * musician, artist and author, Bicycle Diaries *
""A delicious international and interdisciplinary banquet of offerings to honor the passionate and multifaceted work of our beloved urbanist, Jane Jacobs."" -- Wendy Sarkissian * author, Kitchen Table Sustainability and Creative Community Planning *
""How can one resist cheering on this urban original?... We see how Jane Jacobs and our neighborhoods live on through her ideas."" -- Victor S. Navasky * Publisher Emeritus, The Nation, and author, A Matter of Opinion *
""The reflections on this remarkable woman, and the still-unfolding project of city-building today, are a joy to read."" -- Anthony Flint * author, Wrestling with Moses *
""The essayists in What We See have built on those essential footholds that people who have never heard of Jane Jacobs will benefit them for decades."" -- Majora Carter * founder, Sustainable South Bronx, and winner, Rachel Carson Award *
""A moving and enlightening tribute to the ideas and methods of Jane Jacobs... that will inspire others to observe closely, contemplate broadly, and engage civically."" -- Glenna Lang * co-author, Genius of Common Sense *
""There is no better starting place for re-evaluating tomorrow's complex cities than this book, which is full of the wisdom and insight Jane Jacobs so astutely taught us... Hallelujah! Hallelujah!"" -- Fred Kent * President, Project for Public Spaces| Thirty-five contemporary thinkers offer insight into the workings of vibrant, ecological, equitable communities and their economies. *



Book Information
ISBN 9780981559315
Author Stephen A. Goldsmith
Format Hardback
Page Count 353
Imprint New Village Press
Publisher New Village Press
Weight(grams) 594g