Join a growing worldwide celebration of thriving, livable, and walkable cities
“Cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody,” wrote urban activist Jane Jacobs in her book The Death and Life of Great American Cities. Jane’s writings championed a fresh, community-based approach to city building. In 2007, shortly after Jane’s death, a group of her friends decided to honour her ideas by creating Jane’s Walk.
Jane’s Walk is a series of free walking tours that engage a range of local people and institutions to share and further discover their city’s unique neighbourhoods. Premised on the idea that everyone is an expert on the places they live, work, and play, individuals and organizations can either lead or participate in a walk through a part of the city that they feel has an important story. Walks take place throughout the year and culminate in a festival weekend where organizers in cities around the world join in to lead over 1,000 walks.
“The walk as a community platform has become an ideal venue for a great many things: guided tours and fundraisers, parades, and protests. But there is something inherently powerful about a walk without a cause—a walk taken for the sake of walking,” says Denise Pinto, Project Director of Jane’s Walk. “This communal exploration and rumination is a hallmark of Jane’s Walk, a movement of people invested in sharing personal stories about how public space is used or unused.”
While Jane’s Walk originated in Toronto, the beauty of the growing global movement is that people in different parts of the world can easily start a walk in their city and adapt it to suit their culture.
One walk in Calgary’s Pineridge community, for example, featured a pit stop for pakoras (a popular South Asian fritter snack) at Mirch Masala, a favourite restaurant of the local mayor. “He [the mayor] even tweeted at us while were there, joining our walk virtually!” said Liz Williams, one of the walk’s leaders.
In Mexico City, a community dinner is held prior to the walk and participants are invited to talk about what they’d like to see discussed before embarking on their neighbourhood journey.
The participation of cities around the world has expanded rapidly each year. Last year, 134 cities— from Thunder Bay to Tokyo—participated in the Jane’s Walk festival weekend; to date, 188 cities (over 50 cities in Canada alone) have signed up to participate this year, May 1-3.
Next year will be Jane’s Walk’s 10th anniversary, and would also have been Jane Jacobs’ 100th birthday. Planning is already underway to mark the milestone.
Looking forward, Jane’s Walk’s goal is to continue to reach new cities and to build a global network of people working on local urban issues. Within individual cities, Jane’s Walk hopes to reach new communities, uncover new stories, foster conversation and cooperation among individuals and neighbourhoods, and contribute to the development of walkable cities by putting out Jane Jacobs’ famous call to “get out and walk.”
To see the walks taking place in your city, visit: http://janeswalk.org/information/cities. Don’t see your city listed? Consider signing up to be an organizer—Jane’s Walk will provide you with the tools to get moving (and walking)!
Jane’s Walk is a project on Tides Canada’s shared platform, which powers nearly 40 leading social change initiatives across Canada.
