Paradigm Supporting Diversity

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To a Paradigm Supporting Diversity In the 1960’s, city planning followed a very modernist concept which was thought to be healthy for the community of a city. Jane Jacobs recognized how detrimental this kind of planning was and how much destruction it had the potential to cause. In modernist planning, there was the idea to keep people off the streets and have areas of separated purpose, otherwise known as zoning. Planners wanted to limit high population density areas and give people more space to live in, which you might think could be beneficial when analyzed from a bird’s-eye perspective. However, when people live this way, it can wreck community and people do not interact with each other or build trust. By focusing on how actual communities have been harmed from planning that discourages community and high densities while offering …show more content…
Since multiple-use attracts a lot of diversity, the sidewalks will have a constant flow of people. Previously, city planners thought that busy streets were not healthy or safe. On the contrary, having a relatively high density of people residing or just walking around an area actually makes the street safer. This is because there are always people looking out for each other. Having many people in a small area builds community and gives the people there a sense of place. Jacobs believes that when there is diversity like explained above, there are always “eyes on the street.” Jacobs points out, “A well-used city street is apt to be a safer street. A deserted city street is apt to be unsafe…The buildings on a street equipped to handle strangers and to insure the safety of both residents and strangers, must be oriented to the streets” (35). As long as there are multiple uses on a street, the space will be safe because people will interact with each other, form bonds, and develop a connection to the area, which can fuel a feeling of responsibility to protect