Urban vitality is the quality of spaces in cities that attract diverse groups of people for a range of activities at different times of the day.
However, the success of high-vitality spaces can sometimes lead to gentrification and overtourism that may reduce their vitality and initial popularity.
In the 1960s, Jacobs criticized the modern and rationalist architecture of Robert Moses and Le Corbusier, whose work centered private cars.
She argued that these forms of urban planning overlooked and oversimplified the complexity of human life in diverse communities.
She opposed large-scale urban renewal programs that affected neighborhoods and that built freeways through inner cities.