jANE JACOBS (1916 - 2006)
Clear Voice for Renewal of Urban Villages
A quiet
and steady attention to the renewal of regional economies
is growing around the world in response to the numbing
monoculture of the global economy. The leaders of
this movement are those whose roots run deep in their local
community; who know from direct experience the natural
riches and human skills available to shape new patterns
of local production and local trade; who are using their
imaginations to craft new local institutions to support
this renewal.
The literature
for the renaissance of our rural economies is well-known. Wendell
Berry’s 1977 classic book The Unsettling of America:
Culture and Agriculture inspired a new generation
of place-based nature writers who describe life in rural
America and point to the economic forces displacing the
patterns of that life.
Jane
Jacobs was the single most powerful voice for the revitalization
of our urban villages and the regional economies which
shape them.
An economics
of permanence, of dignity, of fairness, of diversity, of
affection for place, can only be built by thousands of
villagers working to renew thousands of villages. We
will need map makers and storytellers to guide and encourage
this renewal. Jane Jacobs helped chart the course
for our cities.
We were honored to have Jane Jacobs
as a friend and advisory board member of the E. F. Schumacher
Society. A city
planner and author by profession, she was one of the most
powerful spokespersons for regional economies. Her works
include Cities and the Wealth of Nations, and The
Death and Life of Great American Cities. We
will miss her clear voice.
Board and Staff of the E. F. Schumacher Society
The Economy
of Regions, Jane Jacobs 1983 E. F. Schumacher
Lecture
"Exurberant Episodes
of Import-Replacing" a letter to
E. F. Schumacher members
A Tribute to Jane Jacobs, Judy Wicks at the 2006 BALLE Conference
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