The University of Iowa School of Urban and Regional Planning, along with the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature, and the Center for the Living, will host a Jane Jacobs Walk through the emerging neighborhood north of downtown Iowa City from 3-4:30 p.m. Saturday, May 4. The walk is free and open to the public.

The walk will honor the legacy and ideas of urban activist and writer Jane Jacobs. Jacobs, who died at the age of 90 in 2006, was an urbanist and activist whose writings championed a fresh, community-based approach to city building. As a community organizer in 1960s New York City, she helped save her neighborhoods from destruction at the hands of Robert Moses and other outside interests. As an author she invited her readers to go out and see what makes some neighborhoods thrive but others struggle, and to learn through direct experience how cities actually work. She opposed those who insisted on applying standardized solutions to the unique challenges facing particular cities.

The walk will be led by Jim Throgmorton, District C representative on the Iowa City City Council and emeritus professor of urban and regional planning at the UI, and Charles Connerly, director of the UI School of Urban and Regional Planning in the Graduate College. It will begin at the Pedestrian Mall fountain.

“The area we’ll be walking contains many older buildings, many of which are important to Iowa City’s history. But it is also facing increasing development pressures that have resulted in the construction—and planned construction—of several new multi-story mixed-use buildings,” says Connerly. “These pressures have been balanced by efforts to preserve historic stretches of the Jefferson Street streetscape, and by adaptive re-use of several older buildings. The result of these recent and planned changes will be higher density neighborhoods immediately north and east of downtown. Whether this will contribute positively to the long-term prosperity and vitality of the city, however, remains an open question.”

The idea of conducting a Jane’s Walk originated five years ago in Toronto, Canada. It was an instant hit. By 2009, 315 walks in 46 cities were conducted, with more than 10,000 walkers participating. In that same year Toronto’s organizers partnered with the Center for the Living City in the U.S., who got “Jane Jacobs Walk” started in a dozen American cities. By 2011 there were 511 walks in 75 cities and 15 countries across the world.The first Jane Jacobs Walk in Iowa City was conducted in 2012.

Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all UI-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, contact Pam Butler in advance at 319-335-0033.

More information about the walk can be found at: www.facebook.com/JanesWalkIowaCity.