Jane's Talk - Sunday, March 14

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Jane's Talk - Sunday, March 14

Postby newsposter » Wed Mar 10, 2010 4:32 pm

There is lots of content of interest to heritage advocates in the 52-minute video being shown this Sunday afternoon at the Calgary Public Library, and in the panel discussion to follow. See information below:

Jane's Talk: Urban Goddess Jane Jacobs reconsidered
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Explore the legacy of this legendary, urban writer through film and discussion. Learn about Jane's Walk, an annual series of free neighbourhood, walking tours. (link to Jane's Walk info: http://www.calgaryheritage.org/CHIForum/vi ... =1961#1961)

Calgary Public Library in partnership with The Calgary Foundation and The Federation of Calgary Communities.

2:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, March 14
John Dutton Theatre
Central Library

No registration required

See also this information on the Community Heritage and Family History Blog:
http://blog.calgarypubliclibrary.com/bl ... hoods.aspx

More about the film and Jane Jacobs:

This salute to the late Jane Jacobs, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, examines how her legacy has affected urban planning in three North American cities: New York, Toronto and Vancouver. Jacobs challenged the accepted norms of urban design-in New York in the early 1960s and later in Toronto from 1968 until her death there in 2006. In her fight for livable cities with strong communities and neighborhoods, she advocated the then-radical idea of giving residents a voice at City Hall through asking them for input into plans that affect their neighborhood.

This film follows recent debate between citizens, developers and the municipal officials caught between in two cities where Jacobs had a profound influence-Brooklyn, New York, with the Atlantic Yards project, and Toronto, Ontario, with the Queen Street Triangle development. Clips of interviews with Jacobs and anecdotes from her son Ned are combined with comments from Ron Shiffman, Urbanist at the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, Margaret Zeidler, a community activist in Toronto, and Larry Beasley, former Vancouver city planner. Vancouver architecture critic Trevor Boddy questions the value pursuing one aspect of Jacobs' philosophy to an extreme and muses whether her ideas can be transplanted into 21st century urban planning without further reflection.

Urban Goddess: Jane Jacobs Reconsidered is a fascinating portrait of a critical thinker who understood the need for citizens to become involved in shaping public policy that shapes the cities in which they live.

The View From Here: Urban Goddess: Jane Jacobs Reconsidered

When Jane Jacobs died in 2006, Canada lost one of its loudest and most persistent urban voices. What Jacobs advocated is well known: short blocks, mixed-use buildings and diverse neighbourhoods. Urban Goddess: Jane Jacobs Reconsidered considers the livable city: an issue that directly impacts the quality of life of the majority of the world’s population. The documentary examines the champion of neighbourhood activism’s legacy, through two redevelopment disputes: one in New York and the other in Toronto. These disputes raise many of the same issues Jacobs encountered 50 years ago. It also looks at Vancouver, a city frequently put forward as a shining example of Jacobs’ livable city philosophy. The documentary asks Is Jane Jacobs’ legacy intact? and, more to the point, Is it still valid?
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