Froy, F; Davis, H; Dhanani, A; (2017) Can the organisation of commercial space in cities encourage creativity and 'self-generating' economic growth? A return to Jane Jacob's ideas. In: Proceedings of the 11th Space Syntax Symposium. Instituto Superior Técnico, Portugal: Lisbon, Portugal.

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Abstract

This paper explores the implications of Jane Jacob’s ideas about the ‘self-generating economic culture of cities’ (Soja, 2000) for the way in which urban commercial spaces are organised and managed. Jacobs saw economic development as an emergent process, based on economic branching, and the development of ‘new work on the basis of old’. Drawing on three case studies from London (on railway arches, the Winkley Road Estate and Gillett Square in Dalston) this paper explores the key spatial factors which Jacobs identified as supporting bottom-up economic growth, such as the intermingling of old and new buildings of different types, sizes and conditions; the mixing of commercial and residential uses; and high population density. In her later works, Jacobs shifted away from her neighbourhood focus to explore how city economies work more globally, highlighting the multiple opportunities for collaboration offered through diverse city supply chains. At this point she did less to imagine how the physical structure of cities might play an enabling or constraining role. The paper concludes by suggesting that Space Syntax might have something to contribute here, through underlining the importance of local-global spatial linkages in cities.

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