questions for 23 October quiz (Jane Jacobs)

Two of these questions will be asked in the quiz. You can work it out when you have got time. Please do not memorize these texts word by word. Just get the general idea and interpret it to us. You will probably be summarizing Jacobs' own thoughts, but you can interpret it with your own ideas. These quiz' aim to let you jump in and comprehend the text. Again, please do not memorize them word by word...

[just to remind you again: 1) in all the quizzes during the course, apart from these questions, always be ready for classical questions such as "what does this text tell us in terms of planning?" or "what was the main message behind this text" as well. 2) you will also have a vocabulary quiz (which would not be as easy as the previous week), so study the vocabulary sets in quizlet -if you have any problems using quizlet just let us know via facebook group or email T.İ.] 

Question 1: According to Jacobs, what is the bedrock attribute of a successful city district and what are the properties of a safe city?

Answer 1: The bedrock attribute of a successful city district is that a person must feel personally safe and secure on the street among all these strangers. First, there must be a clear demarcation between the public and private spaces. Second, there must be eyes upon the street; eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the street. Third, the sidewalk must have users on it fairly continuously both to add to the number of effective eyes on the street and to induce the people in buildings along the street to watch the sidewalks in sufficient numbers. 

Question 2: How do stores, restaurants and bars ensure the safety?

Answer 2: First, they give people concrete reasons for using the sidewalks on which these enterprises face. Second, they draw people along the sidewalks past places which have no attractions to public use in themselves but which become travelled and peopled as routes to somewhere else; this influence does not carry very far geographically, so enterprises must be frequent in a city district if they are to populate with walkers those other stretches of street that lack public places along the sidewalk. Third, storekeepers and other small businessmen are typically strong proponents of peace and order themselves; they hate broken windows and holdups; they hate having customers made nervous about safety, They are great street watchers and sidewalk guardians if present in sufficient numbers. Fourth, the activity generated by people on errands, or people aiming for food or drink, is itself an attraction to still other people.

Question 3: What is the role of watchers in safety of the public spaces?

Answer 3: Watchers are more important than police presence in street. Watchers are people that can control space, activities and people’s movement, they operate spontaneously for neighborhood’s good operation and generally they intervene in case of problems. Their action is not only direct but also indirect because their presence discourages people with hostile inclinations.

Question 4: What is the importance of the streets and the sidewalks for a city?

Answer 4: "Streets and their sidewalks, the main public places of a city, are its most vital organs. Think of a city and what comes to mind? Its streets. If a city' s streets look interesting, the city looks interesting; if they look dull, the city looks dull. More than that and here we get down to the first problem. İf a city’ s city's streets are safe from barbarism and fear, the city is thereby tolerably safe from barbarism and fear. When people say that a city, or a part of it, is dangerous or is a jungle what they mean primarily is that they do not feel safe on the sidewalks."