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Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Sandy Ikeda has led a Brooklyn Heights Jane’s Walk every year since 2011 in celebration of Jane Jacobs’ 101st birthday. Meet at the steps of Borough Hall (facing the Plaza and fountain) Sunday May 7th at 12:15. When you think of a city you like, what comes to mind? Can a city be a work of art? How do parked cars serve pedestrians? Most of the interaction among people, bikes, and cars is unplanned. How does that happen? Why do people gather in some places and avoid others? Is it possible to create a neighborhood from the ground up? What is a “public space”? How can the design of public space promote or retard social interaction? The beautiful and historic neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights offers excellent examples of Jane Jacobs’s principles of urban diversity in action. Beginning at the steps of Brooklyn¹s Borough Hall, we will stroll through residential and commercial streets while observing and talking about how the physical environment influences social activity and even economic and cultural development, both for good and for ill. We will be stopping at several points of interest, including the famous Promenade, and end near the #2/3 subway and a nice coffeehouse. To Find a Jane’s Walk near you, visit http://janeswalk.org/
My guest this week is Sanford Ikeda, a professor of economics at SUNY Purchase and a visiting scholar at New York University. He has written extensively on urban economics, policy, and planning. Professor Ikeda introduced me to urban economics and urban planning when he gave a presentation on Jane Jacobs at a FEE summer seminar that I attended back in 2012. Here are a few of the topics we discussed in the episode: If you haven’t already, I highly suggest reading Jane Jacobs. The natural place to start is The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Her other books, including The Economy of Cities and Systems of Survival, explore topics ranging from economics to political philosophy. Professor Ikeda has written extensively on Jane Jacobs. You can read a nice overview here. If you would like to read more, click here for a paper he wrote on F.A. Hayek, Jane Jacobs, and the importance of local knowledge in cities. He is also a regular contributor to Freeman and Market Urbanism. We also discussed William H. Whyte’s famous documentary on public space, The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. It’s well worth checking out. Help spread the word! If you are enjoying the podcast, please subscribe and rate us on your favorite podcasting platform. Find us on iTunes, PlayerFM, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, and Soundcloud. Our theme music is “Origami” by Graham Bole, hosted on the Free Music Archive.