This was fascinating. I didn't ever imagine I would say that about a book that is, essentially, on urban planning, but I came across a mention of it in another text and thought why not give it a go. I'm so glad I did. Jacobs looks at the city very much as an ecosystem - filled with competing and diverse interests, which are frequently ignored in favour of idealised planning by people removed from the communities being planned. Her argument that such diversity should be celebrated and exploited by planners, instead of being simply shoved aside, makes an enormous amount of sense. I mean, of course the perception of danger is going to go up in areas that are regularly unused (or used at only specific times of the day) and are therefore devoid of regular community life. Her examples have the flavour of genuine common sense, and her writing, though academic, is lively and easy to follow.

Most of all, though, she's got me looking at cities in a completely different way, and that is I think the mark of good non-fiction: it opens up new perspectives, and challenges readers to re-imagine what they're already entirely familiar with. Excellent.