What a beautiful metaphor — Robert Moses= facebook,  Jane Jacobs = BBS! The urban theorist geek in me is so happy to read this. And the Jane Jacobs in me is happy with this comparison.

I think the equivalent in China would be:

Robert Moses = RenRen

Jane Jacobs = QQ, Weibo, Douban, Online Games

hautepop:

“If urban history can be applied to virtual space and the evolution of the Web, the unruly and twisted message boards are Jane Jacobs. They were built for people, and without much regard to profit. How else do you get crowds of not especially lucrative demographics like flashlight buffs (candlepowerforums.com), feminists (bust.com) and jazz aficionados (forums.allaboutjazz.com)? By contrast, the Web 2.0 juggernauts like Facebook and YouTube are driven by metrics and supported by ads and data mining. They’re networks, and super-fast — but not communities, which are inefficient, emotive and comfortable. Facebook — with its clean lines and social expressways — is Robert Moses par excellence.”

Best internet metaphor ever

The Old Internet Neighborhoods by Virginia Heffernan, Sunday 10th July, NYTimes.