Chapters 7 & 8

In these chapters Jacobs mentions how important diversity is for a well planned city. According Jacobs a city is a natural source of diversity but it has to be balanced. A city must have small and big enterprises which create diverse city commerce. Variety is caused by the different necessities of the population. She mentions the case of Mrs. Kostritsky, who was mentioned in a previous chapter. In her neighborhood more commerce is necessary for neighbors’ convenience; the lack of this also produces poor street life and creates fear of the streets. At the end of chapter 7 she mentions 4 conditions to generate diversity in the city.
In chapter 8 she talks in particular about how important people are at different times of the day in the streets. Most of the cities such as Boston and New York have are unbalanced in this aspect. There are times of the day when there are people in stores and streets but all of the sudden the city becomes death. According to Jacobs there must be a mix of primary and secondary diversity to stimulate people at different times of the day to increase the economy of the city.