Sample Essay On Robert Moses Vs. Jane Jacobs

Introduction

Robert Moses vs. Jane Jacobs presents the case of an urban planner Robert Moses and an activist Jane Jacobs. The struggle between the two about the future of New York City led to sharp divisions in the city as each of them rallied people to support them in their ideologies. Moses was one of the powerful planners that had strategized the construction of the city expressways. The city expressways constructed in New York had displaced close to a million people. Moses envisioned a city that could make driving of vehicles easy and because of that, he faced constant opposition from Jacobs, who made the idea of the eyes on the street popular(Flint, 2009). According to Jacobs, the streets are safer and vibrant when there are pedestrians and that made her vehemently, oppose the plans held by Moses on razing Washington Square Park and the Green which village where she lived and hoped to build more miles.
Frankel and Greenstein in order to assist the two solve their differences collaborated an opera after working on a plan of the city. The two in 2011 produced a short film depicting how New York City looked like lambasting off to Mars. Both had information about the city and had a personal connection with the regions that Moses and Jacobs clashed over (Flint, 2009). The two regions in which the two clashed over would have been radically altered suppose history had gone the wrong way. The opera produced by Frankel and Greenstein contends with the opposing visions of what a city such as New York should appear. The ideals held by Moses about a city that was clean, orderly and where cars of where priority not the model for most of the suburbs in America. Unlike Moses, Jacobs embraced the scrappiness of an urban life, giving an upper hand to the diversity and the density of the various neighborhoods.
The battle between the two appeared like the epic of Goliath and David struggle as each of them wanted their way to go through. Moses termed as one of the influential men in New York used as his resources to ensure that his ideas were implemented. Jacobs on the other hand was termed a simple homemaker that never had a degree. Since she did not have, a degree people looked down upon her. Just like the biblical Goliath, Moses was an individual who never lost any of the cases or battles against his ideologies. As it appeared out just like the epic of David and Goliath, Jacobs was not the only person who defeated Moses, but was the first one.
Jacobs held that a city neighborhood should comprise of winding cobblestones and diverse makeup while the consummate power broker who had proposed many developmental plans in the city wanted an urban renewal that would accommodate new and modern technologies such as the cars (Flint, 2009). Jacobs did everything to ensure that she won the case and this included marshaling support from the people and even the politicians in order to preclude building of the lower Manhattan expressway that would result to the demolition of several streetscapes and displacement of families.

Conclusion

Jacobs was justified in her actions to fight for the families who would be displaced because of the construction of the expressway. The actions taken by Jacobs reminds every individual of the power they have to confront the reckless authority who do not have the interests of the people at heart.

Reference

Flint, A. (2009). Wrestling with Moses: How Jane Jacobs took on New York's master builder and transformed the American city. New York: Random House.