Chapter 11&12 Summary

In these two chapters Jane Jacobs talks about for concentrations in cities and some common myths about diversity in largely populated areas. According to Jacobs dense concentrations are absolutely necessary for modern cities to flourish. However, just because an area lacks density does not mean that is not a successful city or neighborhood. She says that some of the most vital neighborhoods have very high concentrations of people, while some of the less desirable places to live were full of one and two-family homes that had a very low number of people per residential acre. This seems to be the opposite of what people would assume the affects of concentrations to be. Jacobs also talks about common myths in city planning, one of them being the fact that city planners don’t want places and buildings in a neighborhood to have mixed uses. She believes that when you have a neighborhood of only one type of use you promote monotony, which then causes a lack of diversity.