Jane’s Walk is an annual festival of free, community-led walking conversations inspired by Jane Jacobs. In a Jane’s Walk, people stroll together through their neighborhoods, share stories about their communities, discover previously unknown aspects, and so connect with each other. Jane’s Walks are supported, organized, and led by volunteers in cities around the world.
Jane’s Walks take place every year on the first weekend of May. In 2024 the festival weekend is May 3, 4, and 5.
In 2024 Jane’s Walks in Montreal are celebrating their 16th edition. Since 2009, more than 800 walks have taken place in Montreal, in the neighborhoods of Plateau-Mont-Royal, Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Montréal-Nord, Laval, Ahuntsic, and more, involving more than 20,000 lovers of their city. During the walks, Montreal citizens who are passionate about their city, its history, its architecture, and its culture offer ongoing talks and guidance.
Jane’s Walks in Montreal are coordinated by the Montreal Urban Ecology Center. To learn more about the walks, visit the center’s page for them. The center, a nonprofit organization created in 1996, develops and proposes urban practices and policies to help create ecological, democratic, and healthy cities. Its booklet “Petit Guide sur le patrimoine” explains its concept of Montreal’s heritage.
Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) was a writer, urbanist and activist who championed a community-based approach to city-building. Her 1961 book The Death and Life of Great American Cities introduced ideas about how cities function that have since become conceptual pillars for today’s architects, urban planners, policymakers, activists, and other city builders.
Jacobs lived in Greenwich Village until 1968, when she moved to Toronto. In both cities, she helped derail the automobile-centered approach to urban planning and invigorated neighborhood activism by helping to stop the expansion of expressways and roads. Read more here.
Jane’s Walk was founded in Toronto in 2006 by a group of Jane Jacobs’s friends and colleagues as a way to honor her life and activate her ideas. That first year, there were a handful of walks in Toronto. Over the next decade, urban activists around the world embraced the idea. In 2017, 1,700 Jane’s Walks took place in 225 cities around the world, spanning 37 countries and 6 continents. The movement continues to grow every year and has now reached over 500 cities.
Thanks to Wayne Senville for this tip.