--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Planners, architects of city design, and…" description: "\"“Planners, architects of city design, and those they have led along with them in their beliefs are not consciously disdainful of the importance of know..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f68/jane-jacobs-1991_architecture_planners-architects-of-city-design-and-t_581993.jpg" --- # Planners, architects of city design, and those they have… ![“Planners, architects of city design, and those they have led along with them in their beliefs are not consciously disdainful of the importance of knowing how things work. On the contrary, they have gone to great pains to learn what saints and sages of modern orthodox planning have said about how…” quote by Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f68/jane-jacobs-1991_architecture_planners-architects-of-city-design-and-t_581993.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f68/jane-jacobs-1991_architecture_planners-architects-of-city-design-and-t_581993.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f68/jane-jacobs-1991_architecture_planners-architects-of-city-design-and-t_581993.jpg) > ““Planners, architects of city design, and those they have led along with them in their beliefs are not consciously disdainful of the importance of knowing how things work. On the contrary, they have gone to great pains to learn what saints and sages of modern orthodox planning have said about how cities ought to work and what ought to be good for people and business in them. They take this with such devotion that when contradictory reality intrudes, threatening tho shatter their dearly won learning, they must shrug reality aside.”” [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Planners claim expertise but ignore real‑world contradictions, clinging to theory over practice. **In simple terms:** Planners favor theory over reality. Key Takeaway Balance theory with on‑the‑ground observation. Themes urban planning theory vs practice human-centered design Mood critical reflective Type analytical pragmatic When to use this quote - city development projects - community workshops - policy drafting Key Concepts systems thinking cognitive bias adaptive learning Questions to Reflect On - How can planners integrate lived experience into design? - What mechanisms ensure feedback loops from residents? A Different Perspective Overreliance on doctrine can blind planners to practical needs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Architecture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/architecture/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Urbanism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/urbanism/) ## Related quotes > [Cities are an immense laboratory of trial and error, failure and success, in city building and city design.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/cities-are-an-immense-laboratory-of-trial-and-error-failure-and/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [You can never design the best city, but you can design the best city you know how to design at this time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacque-fresco/you-can-never-design-the-best-city-but-you-can-design-the-best-city/) [Jacque Fresco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacque-fresco/) > [“There is a widespread belief that americans hate cities. I think it is probable that Americans hate city failure, but, from the evidence, we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/there-is-a-widespread-belief-that-americans-hate-cities-i-think-it-is/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“To generate exuberant diversity in a city's streets and districts four conditions are indispensable: 1. 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On the last train home to Mullaghbrack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcdonald/a-city-is-as-much-a-state-of-mind-as-a-place-a-set-of-perceptions-of/) [Ian McDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcdonald/) ## More by Jane Jacobs > [People who try to predict the future by extrapolating in a line of more of what exists - they are always wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/people-who-try-to-predict-the-future-by-extrapolating-in-a-line-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [My mother used to say when we were children, 'When a boy gets a stick in his hand, his brains run out the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/my-mother-used-to-say-when-we-were-children-when-a-boy-gets-a-stick/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Design is people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/design-is-people/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [To approach a city, or even a city neighborhood, as if it were a larger architectural problem, capable of being given order by converting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/to-approach-a-city-or-even-a-city-neighborhood-as-if-it-were-a-larger/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them… for really new ideas of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/cities-need-old-buildings-so-badly-it-is-probably-impossible-for/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [The notion that you could discard the old world and now make a new one. 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Good small parks typically have a place somewhere within them commonly understood to be the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/probably-the-most-important-element-in-intricacy-is-centering-good/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [Throughout the world Dark Ages have scrawled finis to successions of cultures receding far into the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/throughout-the-world-dark-ages-have-scrawled-finis-to-successions-of/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) > [“Privacy is precious in cities. It is indispensable. Perhaps it is precious and indispensable everywhere, but in most places you cannot get it. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-jacobs/privacy-is-precious-in-cities-it-is-indispensable-perhaps-it-is/) [Jane Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) [Explore all 193 Jane Jacobs quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-jacobs/) ## More Architecture quotes > [The bones of my architecture are very much related to the structure, to the physical fact of how a building can stand up; it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/santiago-calatrava/the-bones-of-my-architecture-are-very-much-related-to-the-structure/) [Santiago Calatrava](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/santiago-calatrava/) > [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. 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Fentress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/curtis-w-fentress/) > [The essential functions of the mind consist in understanding and in inventing, in other words, in building up structures by structuring reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-piaget/the-essential-functions-of-the-mind-consist-in-understanding-and-in/) [Jean Piaget](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-piaget/) > [London, from the architecture to the culture to the fashion to the accents, feels like it's a special place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-eazy/london-from-the-architecture-to-the-culture-to-the-fashion-to-the/) [G-Eazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-eazy/) > [A wiki works best where you're trying to answer a question that you can't easily pose, where there's not a natural structure that's known…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ward-cunningham/a-wiki-works-best-where-you-re-trying-to-answer-a-question-that-you/) [Ward Cunningham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ward-cunningham/) > [Architecture is not a profession for the faint-hearted, the weak-willed, or the short-lived.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-filler/architecture-is-not-a-profession-for-the-faint-hearted-the-weak/) [Martin Filler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-filler/) > [As a result of reading science fiction when I was eight, I grew up with an interest in music, architecture, city planning, transportation, politics,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/as-a-result-of-reading-science-fiction-when-i-was-eight-i-grew-up/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [Winning a competition in architecture is a ticket to oblivion. 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