Citizen Jane: Battle Cry for the City

Concerned about city planning in Maine? Meet Jane Jacobs, whose 1960 book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities sent shockwaves through the architecture and planning worlds, with its exploration of the consequences of modern planners’ and architects’ reconfiguration of cities. Jacobs was also an activist, involved in many fights in mid-century New York, to stop “master builder” Robert Moses from running roughshod over the city. This film retraces the battles for the city as personified by Jacobs and Moses, as urbanization moved to the very front of the global agenda. Through archival material and interviews, this fascinating documentary paints a vivid portrait of a fighter whose strong character had a major impact not only on New York City, but also on the entire field of city planning.

Program after the film features Alexander Jaegerman, city planner for Yarmouth, and Markos Miller, planning activist.

This program is made possible by the Morton-Kelly Charitable Trust.

“Boy, do we need Jane Jacobs now.” Chicago Reader

“Vividly recounts how one woman with something to lose — her Greenwich Village neighborhood — wound up slaying Goliath.” Washington Post