One of NPR’s most e-mailed stories has been this one, about how Jane Jacobs (not an urban planner) challenged the ideas of Robert Moses (who is an urban planner).

Moses is one of the most influential forces in city planning. He was also a governmental wizard who once had three offices for three non-elected positions in New York government. His approach to planning was sometimes very mechanical, with cities being treated almost like machines. Highways were the infrastructure to move humans quickly and easily, not necessarily scenically.

Jacobs took a different stance. Listen to the story for how it happened. It’s an interesting tributary to the Moses story, which is told in the brilliant (albeit 2,000 page) book, The Power Broker.