Jane Jacobs. "The Death and Life of Great American Cities"....Summary for chapter 4

The main point that Jacobs argues in this chapter is comparing safety of children in parks and playgrounds versus city sidewalks. She argues that parks and play grounds are dangerous environment for children to play and instead they should play on city sidewalks so in case of an emergency they can reach for help.

Personally I disagree with her on this matter. I think city sidewalks most of the time are more dangerous than parks and play grounds. Let’s consider this question. How big should a side walk be in order to be safe for children and have a pleasant environment for them? Well it should be big enough so they could have the space for running and being active as they could be in a park or playground. I don’t think there are a lot of these kinds of sidewalks around the globe.

In parks or playgrounds there is no need to be worried about cars. That is a very important matter. City sidewalks are surrounded by cars, busses, bikes and even trucks and history has shown many fatal accidents which involved a child playing on street or running for their ball.

Jacobs mentioned a gang battle in 1959 which led to the death of a 15 year old girl. This battle happened in a park in New York. I admit that parks are often a place for crimes and drug dealing and etc. I was a victim of this act about 15 years ago when I was 13. I was coming back from a soccer play and I decided to take a shortcut through the park which I got rubbed and got threaten with a knife. From that day I never went to that park again. My point is that if we are worried and concerned about the safety of our children we should have the right facilities for them. A good example is city of Houten in Holland. Play grounds and basketball courts and soccer fields were all surrounded by houses which created a very pleasant environment for children’s to play without being scared or worried about their safety.

Children’s need space in order to play and have fun. Sidewalks will not satisfy their need. City sidewalks should be a nice environment for people to walk shop and sit down at a restaurant and enjoy their day.