ALLAN B.

JOCOBS
(Urban Designer)

SUBMITTED TO-
AR. PRIYA GUPTA SUBMITTED BY-
AR. PRANSHI JAIN SURBHI JAIN
 ABOUT-
 Allan B. Jacobs (born 29 December 1928) is an urban designer, renowned for his
publications and research on urban design.
 His well-known paper "Toward an Urban Design Manifesto", written with 
Donald Appleyard, describes how cities should be laid out.
 He worked on planning projects in the City of Pittsburgh and for the 
Ford Foundation in Calcutta, India, and spent eight years as Director of the 
San Francisco Department of City Planning.
 Jacobs earned a Bachelor of Architecture from Miami University and a 
master's degree in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania in 1954. He
then attended the Harvard Graduate School of Design.
 From 1954 to 1955, Jacobs was studying city planning as a Fulbright Scholar at 
University College London.
 Honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Berkeley Citation, and the Kevin
Lynch Award from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
 He is currently a Professor emeritus and a consultant in city planning and urban
design with projects in California, Oregon, and Brazil, among others.
PERSPECTIVES-
 Designing Great Streets
In Great Streets, Jacobs analyzes the qualities of great streets around the world:
buildings of similar height, interesting facades, trees, windows that invite viewing,
intersections, beginnings and endings, stopping places and space for leisurely
walking.

 Multiway Boulevards as Urban Saviours

Throughout his work, Jacobs explains, defends, and celebrates multiway boulevards
- great tree-lined streets with separate realms for through traffic and for slow-paced
vehicular-pedestrian movement. He argues that boulevards could play an important
role in addressing blight by bringing people back into the same places as other
traffic. Although such streets are currently unpopular because of safety and traffic
concerns, Jacob argues that boulevards can respond positively to many issues central
to urban life such as livability, mobility, safety, interest, economic opportunity, mass
transit, and open space.
 Utilizing the Power of Observation 
While most modern street planning is based on traffic assumptions and place
speculation, direct observation is the foundation of Jacobs' research. He
encourages planners and designers to study what does and does not work
on existing streets, and to use these observations and examples for better street
design.

 Fostering Interaction between Pedestrians and Cars

Contrary to traditional planning assumptions, Jacobs believes that the
segregation of cars and pedestrians decreases safety and community vitality.
Based on field research and observation, he demonstrates that intersections and
streets that allow every type of movement and interaction between pedestrians
and drivers work best, serving as attractive, welcoming, and exciting places that
help build the local community. According to Jacobs' findings, when cars are
more fully aware of and integrated into the pedestrian realm, both pedestrians
and drivers are safer.
 What Are Great Streets
 Alan Jacobs describes a Great Street that is “markedly superior in character or
quality” and people visit frequently.
 contributes to community
 comfortable and safe
 encourages participation
 remembered
 representative of a community

Great Streets Characteristics

 Unique Sense of Place Fig. showing- Fig.
 Balance among various transportation modes state street chicago showing-
 Safe, attractive and economically vibrant streets and 5th AVENUE
public places NY

Functions of Great Streets

 Community Function
 Transportation Function
Great Streets: Community
Functions As Great Street has
social spaces; they provide
plazas, parks, trees, benches
and public art. where people
can gather, watch other
people, or meet friends.
A Great Street supports
economic development
because it is a place of
commerce - where people
go to shop, eat or conduct
business.
A Great Street is memorable as
a symbolic or ceremonial place
in the city and a venue for
events, parades, fairs and other
civic events.
Community Functions
• Ceremonial / Symbolic
• Social Spaces
• Place of Commerce
• Outdoor Room
A Great Street creates an
outdoor room - a place
where buildings and
vegetation define the limits
of the public realm.
A Great Street functions for
public transit – bus,
streetcars, LRT, and BRT by
providing space stops,
station and shelters.
A Great Street functions for
parking, allowing for on-
street parking.
A Great Street functions for
bicycles, when practical,
providing lanes and storage
facilities.
A Great Street functions for
various forms of vehicular
movement including
automobiles, trucks and
public transit.
Transportation Functions
• Various forms of Transit
• Vehicular Movement
• Bicycles
• Walking
• Parking A Great Street functions
for pedestrians, allowing
them to walk in a
pleasant and safe
environment.
Contributing Elements of Great Streets

• Trees
• Diversity : Many buildings rather than
few
• Details: Special design features
• Places: Wide sidewalks, plazas
• Density of People
• Diversity of Land Use
• Parking on the Street
Design Standards and Guidelines

 Components of Great Streets

 Pedestrian Realm
Design Standards and Guidelines

Prototype Design: Major Transit

Corridor

Roadway Realm

Pedestrian (Private) Realm

Notable works-
 The Urban Design Element of the San Francisco General Plan
 Allan Jacobs and Donald Appleyard, Toward an Urban Design Manifesto.
Working Paper published 1982; republished with a prologue in the Journal of
the American Planning Association, 1987.[1]
 Making City Planning Work (1980)
 Looking at Cities (1985)
 Great Streets (1995)
 The Boulevard Book (2003) with Elizabeth MacDonald and Yodan Rofe
 The Good City: Reflections and Imaginations (2011)
THANK YOU 