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Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.

Jane Jacobs, The Death and Life of Great American Cities

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The story behind the card

Jacobs had no training in planning. She was a magazine writer who looked out of her window in Greenwich Village and noticed that the streets officials called slums were working, and the tidy projects replacing them were not. The argument here is about rent, not nostalgia: new construction has to earn back its cost, so only proven, well-funded ventures can afford it. Bookshops, studios, odd little businesses and untested ideas need cheap old rooms.

Türkçe oku
Eski fikirler bazen yeni binaları kullanabilir. Yeni fikirler ise eski binaları kullanmak zorundadır.
Jane Jacobs, Büyük Amerikan Şehirlerinin Ölümü ve Yaşamı

Jacobs şehir planlama eğitimi almamıştı. New York'ta, Greenwich Village'da oturan bir dergi yazarıydı ve penceresinden baktığında bir şey fark etti: Yetkililerin çöküntü bölgesi dediği sokaklar aslında canlıydı ve iş görüyordu, onların yerine yapılan derli toplu konut projeleri ise işlemiyordu. Buradaki savı nostaljiyle değil, kirayla ilgilidir: Yeni bina maliyetini çıkarmak zorundadır, bu yüzden oradaki yüksek kirayı ancak kendini kanıtlamış, parası bol işler ödeyebilir. Kitapçılar, atölyeler, küçük ve alışılmadık dükkânlar, henüz denenmemiş fikirler ise ucuz, eski odalara muhtaçtır.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: The Death and Life of Great American Cities
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