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Matt Tyrnauer

Citizen Jane: Battle for the City

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09/08/2017

BBC Four - Citizen Jane: Battle for the City

Journalist and activist Jane Jacobs's fight to save historic New York architecture.

Journalist, author and activist Jane Jacobs's fight to stop Robert Moses demolishing New York's historic neighbourhoods in pursuit of his modernist vision in the 60s.

In 1960, Jane Jacobs's book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, sent shockwaves through the architecture and planning worlds, with its exploration of modern city-planning. Jacobs, a journalist, author and activist, was involved in many fights in mid-century New York, to stop 'master builder' Robert Moses from running roughshod over the city, demolishing historic neighbourhoods in pursuit of his modernist vision. 

This film retraces those battles as contemporary urbanisation moves to the very front of the global agenda and examines the city of today through the life and work of one of its greatest champions.

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