Cities and the Wealth of Nations
by Jane Jacobs
|
|
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of Cities and the Wealth of Nations.
discuss this book
friend reviews (0)
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 57)
Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
urbanists, economists, anyone interested in understanding current predicaments
It's Jane Jacobs--what else do I need to say! Okay, so everyone may not love Jacobs as much as I do, so I'll explain. Jacobs continues on the tradition of her previous books (Death and Life of Great American Cities, the Economy of Cities) and examines wealth, poverty, and ingenuity. The basic premise of the book is that cities are the fundamental economic unit, not nations as economists from Adam Smith on have assumed. This assumption may seem trivial unless you understand how varying jurisd...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2007
Jane Jacobs loves cities. In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, written in the Sixties, she blasted urban-redesign efforts that were based on the assumption that people actually didn't like cities and would prefer to live in the country -- millions of city-dwellers to the contrary. In "Cities and the Wealth of Nations", she argues that the...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in February, 2007
Basically makes the argument that cities, not states and nations, are the main economic engine.
Not sure how Jacobs' work is regarded outside of "Death and Life of Great American Cities," and I'm also not informed enough to comment on them with any credibility.
Still, I love the way her books make me think about cities. Her enthusiasm for cities, even in writing on economics, is really great.
Not sure how Jacobs' work is regarded outside of "Death and Life of Great American Cities," and I'm also not informed enough to comment on them with any credibility.
Still, I love the way her books make me think about cities. Her enthusiasm for cities, even in writing on economics, is really great.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in October, 2007
An interesting and compelling defence of cities as the necessary (and only) level of economy and society. Published in 1984, some of the book's examples (the USSR, a New York City in what seems to be an irrevocable downward spiral...), but many of its theories not only apply, but are quite convincing.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 2008
This book's now a little dated, but its core ideas -- that wealth is largely created by innovation in cities (well, metropolitan areas in the current terminology) and that certain types of subsidy policies can decrease overall economic utility -- may have been expressed first or most clearly here.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in May, 1997
Ok, I'm a geek sometimes and when I like the way an author writes, I enjoy seeing how their mind works and extrapolates on a topic.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 1992
This book holds a particularly lasting influence over my thinking of economics.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
