Jane Jacob’s “The Uses of Sidewalks: Contract” talks about the issues of sidewalk living. We know how sidewalk plays an important role in our everyday living but in Jacob’s article, she discussed the fact that even if we know the importance of sidewalk, we take it for granted in every path of the way. We tend to use sidewalks for illogical purposes and reason such as loitering and littering. Sidewalk is already part of social construction that we continue to take out of consideration because we think that it will exists in every step of the way.
“Sidewalk public contact and sidewalk public safety, taken together, bear directly, on our country’s most serious problem – segregation and racial discrimination (Jacobs, 11). ” Today, sidewalk is not just a path to take to be able to go to the place where we wanted through walking but a part of journey that needs safety and right occupancy for it is for public use and definitely not for private. Jacob’s article as a whole is not just about the issues of sidewalk but also the design, architecture, demand, and modernity of this aspect in the street.
The first question that emerged in this article is why these sidewalks need to acquire formality and privacy if it provides public responsibility and not for few people only? Another question is why people who live within the sidewalk streets continue to take these parts of sidewalk and own it by planting or creating a small park if these sidewalks are really for the public?
Works Cited
Jacobs, Jane. “The Uses of Sidewalks: Contract. ” pp. 1-12