Jane Jacobs : seer of the modern city
Jane Jacobs' classic book on urban living is 50 this year. Our current leaders would do well to read it.
"Jacobs was there first, and with a hard-headed, modern understanding of the sort of relationships that are needed in modern life, and the sorts of community that contemporary cities can offer. Her belief that urban planners and architects should not be realising visions, but creating and preserving resilient, inclusive and adaptable neighbourhoods – places which can largely look after themselves – still resonates."