Abstract
Countless cities are rapidly developing across the globe, pressing the need for clear urban-planning and design recommendations geared toward sustainability. This paper examines the intersections of Jane Jacobs’ four conditions for diversity with low-carbon and low-energy-use urban systems in four cities around the world: Lyon (France), Chicago (Illinois), Kolkata (India), and Singapore City (Singapore). After reviewing Jacobs’ four conditions for diversity, the four cities are introduced and their historical development context is described. A framework to study the cities along the following three dimensions is then presented: population and density, infrastructure development/use, and climate and landscape. These cities differ in many respects and their analysis is instructive for many other cities around the globe. Jacobs’ conditions are present in all of them, manifested in different ways and to varying degrees. Overall, the study results show that the adoption of Jacobs’ conditions seems to ...

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