Teoria e resistência em Jane Jacobs

Abstract

The paper aims to explore the relationship between theory and practice, through observing of the work and life of Jane Jacobs, with the purpose to relate episodes faced by the activist and the theoretical concepts that she elaborated. To achieve that, the research was divided in two parts. The first one retrieves some information about Jacobs´ life based on Anthony Flint's book, Wrestling with Moses. The purpose of the first part of the work is to locate Jane Jacobs interests, skills, challenges and actions that have contributed to her thinking about the city. That includes the tactical resistance for neighborhood preservation in which Jacobs took place. The second part of the paper provides a collection of concepts present in Jacobs' book - Death and Life of the Great American Cities (1961) -, seeking for parts where Greenwich Village and Hudson Street are mentioned, in an effort to reinforce how Jacobs' daily reference constructs her theoretical formulation. This part is illustrated with the current situation of Hudson Street and its surroundings near Washington Square, based on a visit made in 2018. By establishing the current condition of the neighborhood, the role of Jacobs becomes clear for both the urbanistic theory and the valorization and preservation of certain physical and social characteristics of Greenwich Village. The photographic record of the neighborhood current conditions reveals the presence of urban values ​​and dynamics defended by the activist in the 1950s and 60s. Key-words: History of Urbanism. Participatory urbanism. Tatic Urbanism. Neighborhood. Robert Moses.