Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith

by Eric O. Jacobsen, Eugene H. Peterson (forward)

Christians often talk about claiming our cities for Christ and the need to address urban concerns. But according to Eric Jacobsen, this discussion has remained far too abstract. Sidewalks in the Kingdom challenges Christians to gain an informed vision for the physical layout and structure of the city.

Jacobsen emphasizes the need to preserve the nourishing characteristics of traditional city life, including shared public spaces, thriving neighborhoods, and a well-supported local economy. He explains how urban settings create unexpected and natural opportunities to initiate friendship and share faith in Christ.

Helpful features include a glossary, a bibliography, and a description of New Urbanism. Pastors, city-dwellers, and those interested in urban ministry and development will be encouraged by Sidewalks in the Kingdom .

Genres: Theology, Religion, Nonfiction, Christianity, Urban Planning, Faith, Cultural

190 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2003

About the author

Eric O. Jacobsen (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is senior pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Tacoma, Washington. He is the author of Sidewalks in the Kingdom: New Urbanism and the Christian Faith and numerous articles exploring connections between the Christian community, the church, and traditional neighborhoods. He is also the coeditor of Traditions in Leadership and The Three Tasks of Leadership.

Reviews

[Tamara Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

from Ekklesia Project's description:

"...Sidewalks in the Kingdom challenges Christians to gain a practical, informed vision for the city that includes a broad understanding of the needs and rewards of a vital urban community. Building on the principles of New Urbanism, Jacobsen emphasizes the need to preserve the nourishing characteristics of traditional city life, such as shared public spaces, mixed-use neighborhoods, a well-supported local economy, and aesthetic diversity and beauty."

During all the time I spent reading this book I couldn't tell if it was already outdated or not. Especially after reading Rod Dreher's plea to return to our small town roots. Then it dawned on me: both perspectives -- New Urbanism and the new anti-urban ideology of ruralism are dreaming of the same end goal -- places stewarded at their best for the common good of its community.

Occasionally I got a tad bit annoyed with Jacobsen's use of Scripture for propositional arguments for city planning (e.g, a list of Bible verses that include the word "walk" to commend the practice of walking versus driving). Mostly, though, I appreciated his gracious, intelligent and humble tone. For the fact, alone, that he interviews and excerpts a book written by his own mayor in Missoula, Montana, he earned my trust.

Jacobsen also provided me with the best rationale yet for a renewed love for the urban without jettisoning the rural. His point is that we can help a city prosper whether we live in it or live outside it, but work for it (eg., farmers in the rural space outside a city produce crops that feed the city). In the author's argument, it's suburban living that is most problematic. (I made the unfortunate choice to bring up this argument at a lovely brunch where I was a guest, not realizing what the other viewpoints might be about living in the suburbs.)

"An urban dweller supports the city by direct participation in its life and its rhythms. And a rural dweller supports the city by enjoying the culture that is produced in the city, by providing food and other resources for the city, and by being a careful steward of the wilderness that surrounds the city. What is most problematic with regard to the city is suburbanization which can drain the life out of the vital center of the city and doesn't support the city with any rural amenities. The suburban model seems destined for failure, because it does not take seriously the redemptive possibilities within the city." (p. 43)

While reading On Writing Well, I think I found the perfect description of the sort of "suburb" the author is railing against. This is from John McPhee's Coming Into the Country, a book about Alaska, the section devoted to the quest for a possible new state capital:

"Almost all Americans would recognize Anchorage, because Anchorage is that part of any city where the city has burst its seams and extruded Colonel Sanders. Anchorage is sometimes excused in the name of pioneering. Build now, civilize later. But Anchorage is not a frontier town. It is virtually unrelated to its environment. It has come in on the wind, an American spore. A large cookie cutter brought down on El Paso could lift something like Anchorage into the air. Anchorage is the northern rim of Trenton, the center of Oxnard, the ocean-blind precincts of Daytona Beach. It is condensed, instant Albquerque."

Maybe most importantly, Jacobsen's book instructs the reader in a basic glossary of terms for good urban planning: mixed-use, LULU, critical mass, density, human scale.

[Courtney Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author emphasizes that the physical layout of a city is in itself significant, and, if carefully planned, can tend toward the propagation of Christian values like community, relationship, care for the less fortunate, etc. He is immensely practical in his ideas, but as far as how to implement them... that's where it gets sticky. Also, while much of his critique of suburbia may be justified, he's a bit narrow in his unreserved praise of city life and seems to have no experience of other settings and no room to admit that there may be a variety of favorable settings and locations in which to live a godly life that promotes Christian ideals. While public spaces are great and necessary (“sitting in the gates”), there is nothing inherently sinful, wrongly individualistic, or selfish (as he seems to suggest) about sitting under your own vine and fig tree.

[Evan Kerr · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the bomb, y'all. If you're a Christian with a love for urban everything, allow this book to comfort you in Christ as you ponder how to solve the many urban problems around you.

[Jeremy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this book up as it seemed to combine my planning education with aspects of my Faith. In that it did not disappoint. The author does a good job of showing how the act of planning and arranging our cities has ramifications with how we interact with people. The author offers Biblical examples of how these relational interactions are important for the Christian faith, thus suggesting that the New Urbanism planning movement is something for Christian's to get behind. While I thought that the book started out strong, I felt by the end that the author was perhaps stretching some ideas to make his points. As well, the author glosses over issues of gentrification, poverty and displacement to create New Urbanist neighbourhoods. I really felt he had an opportunity to speak out against some of the deeper systemic issues that create these things but he did not and to be fair it may have been beyond the scope of his book.
Overall, a very interesting read with some valid points and an excellent starting point for Christian planners and architects looking g to see how their faith fits into their field. Just a reminder to read critically and ask questions, otherwise a very intelligent and well written book.

[Shelby Mistor · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Christian and urbanist, I LOVED this book. Jacobsen clearly articulates thoughts that have been in my head for years. We know that the Bible should inform our view of all aspects of life, but there are not many resources that provide a biblical view of how we build our cities. Cities, in both the physical and social sense, matter to God, and should matter to believers as well. There is something about the suburbs that stifles community, and Jacobsen offers thoughtful ways that believers can honor God through the spaces where we live, work, and play. He acknowledges that sharing the gospel, not creating perfect cities, is the mission of the church, but it’s much easier to share the gospel and engage our communities in certain settings more than others. A well-designed city is a powerful platform for the gospel, but it doesn’t receive much attention from the church. I hope to pass this along to a couple pastors I know, but I think it would benefit all Christians.

[Charles Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sidewalks in the Kingdom is a great read for any Christian interested in city planning like myself. It provides a compelling case for new-urbanism by describing the social and moral degradation of our society since the invention of the car. In many ways, Jacobsen has rewritten “The Geography of Nowhere”, which I was reading at the same time, but for a Christian audience. The conclusion of the book was surprising and hopeful. Jacobsen points out that traditional city design has many ties to the Christian faith with his example of the building of Geneva Switzerland. He ends with an optimistic prediction of renewed interest in traditional city planning without sounding unrealistic. Jacobsen is a brilliant Christian writer!

[Elijah]

This has long been the book I point to when I talk about the best thing I read in seminary. I've also given this book away more than any other book. It's a concise, easy-to-read eye-opener that'll help you see your urban environment in a new way. Reading it again as part of this year's reading project, it was clear to me why it made such a big impact on me back in 2009. I grew up in a rural area, and I was new to city life. This book gave me a way to understand what was good and bad about the new place I lived, as well as a theological rationale for it all. Still a good book. I'd like to read an updated version. It is twenty years old now.

[Aaron Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book does a phenomenal job of showing cities as valuable and glorifying to God through their physical layout and social framework and how they can promote christian ideas and community.

Some examples of these are shared public spaces, mixed neighborhoods, locally supported businesses and diversity in people, places, and public art.

Through scripture, personal examples, stats and more, the author conveys the goodness and value in cities that God created and intended as well as means to improve and restore them for his glory.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this a good starting point for the merging of theology and urbanism. It did not dive as deeply into either as I would have liked but it’s under 200 pages.

I would recommend this for a Christian to begin looking at the city and the built environment in light of their faith. It will introduce you to. A lot of vocabulary of urbanism and possibly inspire some next steps. American Christianity, especially the evangelical branches have increasingly become a suburban phenomenon. Investing ourselves in the city is good for the city and it is good for Christians.

[Chris Rohde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on how Christians can love their actual physical cities. Jacobsen challenged the way I thought about the city and my suburban upbringing. He paints a picture of loving the city by committing to care for it. I highly recommend!

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me a while to get to this. I appreciate a lot of what Jacobsen has to say, especially in relation to suburbs. I am not sure how to mesh this stuff with inner city/urban/impoverished neighborhood development.

[Daniel Chapman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first heard about this in Andrew Peterson’s God of the Garden and I’m glad I did. There’s a lot in here to consider for any Christian making their way to the heavenly city by way of earthly cities.

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5.

I really liked this one! Probably one of the best (or, at least, most thought-provoking and exciting) that I read for study at L'Abri.

[holly norman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think everyone should read this book.

[Hannah Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prophetic in its critique of the infrastructure that isolates us. Ten years later, this book’s relevance has increased with time.

[Abram B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacobsen diagnoses the crisis of urban sprawl and what it’s done to communities. Then, using a biblical theology of a city, paints a vivid picture of what cities could be. Impossible to read this and not be moved towards engagement in your local community.

[Michael Taft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sidewalks in the Kingdom snuck up on me. Growing up in a fairly intentional urban church, the book has created for itself quite the loyal following among church leaders. Before diving in, I just figured it talked about how to be a Christian in the city: “How do I treat that homeless man with responsible love?” or “How do we model our churches to be inviting to the diversity of the city?” You know, the kind of topics When Helping Hurts hits on, because that’s what the city is about, isn’t it? Poor people and immigrants!
Now rather than contradicting those other very valid topics, Jacobsen takes a very different angle on what the city means to Christians. While it is easy to see the biblical foundations of caring for the poor and the extended community of the church, Jacobsen recognizes the biblical importance of tangible place and its important to God. He then takes the unexpected but very logical step of tying God’s concern for tangible space and his people to urban planning. If Christians are called to include God in every sphere of their lives, then shouldn’t some of the most influential uses of design take this into account also?
Now, what is perhaps most interesting is that working for the God’s city does not mean placing a cross or a church on every street corner. The intended goal is not to fill the city's design with religious images and allusions, but rather fill it with spaces that facilitate rich and diverse community, an intrinsic aspect of Christian life. Jacobsen describes the kind of society and ministry to which the Bible calls Christians, one that has very deep insights and advantages even in secular culture, and then applies urban planning techniques which promote such characteristics.
The techniques which Jacobsen offers up are surprisingly tangible and applicable. None are absolutes, but rather best practices; they don’t always fix an obvious problem, but they develop healthier characteristics and catalysts. One of these simple concepts he focuses on is the simple activity of walking. To maintain a healthier local economy and promote relationship building between neighbors, it is important for walking to be practical and desirable. The car, however, has morphed our transportation values into prioritizing convenience, efficiency, and power. When we walk our neighborhoods, we naturally desire to invest more in them socially, economically, and even politically. With scientific studies to back him, he breaks down factors that get people out of cars and onto their sidewalks: a travel radius of a quarter mile, the spacing between each building being no more than one sixth of their height, or even the condition of sidewalks or speed of the street.
Believing that we are intentionally placed in our cities in order to better them, Jacobsen takes a hard look at how Christians are to treat and develop the city in light of their divine mandate. What follows is a basic and applicable outline of how to create healthy communities through the simple act of changes how streets are shaped and laid out.

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was open to the argument of the book and pleased to be made to think about city planning and the role of the city in Christian theology but I was ultimately left unpersuaded by much of the argumentation.

[James Stewart · Rating 2 out of 5]

The urban sprawl that blights the USian landscape has had more impact than merely the growth of ugly landscapes. It has broken apart communities, led to less healthy lifestyles, and increased ghettoization. Jacobsen's book sets out to introduce Christian groups into the new urbanist agenda, calling for walkable neighborhoods, more community-focussed building practices, and support of local business where real relationships can be borne. While this may well be a good primer, anyone who has read any other new urbanist material or who is looking for a thorough theological account may be disappointed. Jacobsen sets up false dichotomies (community-building is apparently not a part of evangelism for him) and doesn't dig into the environmental arguments which should be so central for Christians (and indeed, for anyone who cares about the future of the planet and its people). He also talks of how he believes he's the only Christian member of the Congress for New Urbanism, but without recognising that perhaps he's the only one who goes out of his way to advertise himself as such. It's good to see Christians publicly engaging with the vital issues of urban planning, but it would be good to see more serious engagement with urban theology.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book because it merged two major aspects of my life: christianity and urban planning. It really makes you think about how our cities shape our lives and how our faith should influence not only how we live but where we choose to live. It can be pretty convicting at times, noting how Americans have basically created false gods out of the notions of individualism and freedom as opposed to living among one another and loving each other as Christ loved us.

A little warning, the author is extremely anti-suburban and pretty preachy about it. His tone is sometimes distracting from the points that he's trying to make. So if you're not used to this point of view, it can be pretty shocking. You might want to start with Suburban Nation first. I definitely didn't agree with all of his arguments, but it does make you think. And, as somebody currently living in a city, it makes me think about how I should be seizing opportunities and really becoming part of the community.

On a side note, I love when books you read cite other books/authors you have recently read. On the same page, this book referenced Ray Oldenburg and Robert Putnam, and that just made me happy.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you care at all about urban space please read this book.



I read this on a recommendation from a friend and I'm glad I did as it theologically articulated many views, suspicians, and beliefs I have been formulating but unable to voice. In short, Jacobson argues that God cares about cities and the ways cities have been organized don't make sense practically or theologically. Jacobson presents a compelling case for the importance of cities, public space, and mixed-use zoning.



My wife and I purposefully made a downward mobile choice to live within walking distance of work and amentities. This meant selling our home and becoming renters. But this represented our values as a family. So, in this regard I think he's preaching to the choir.



Still, it's an excellent resource to have for thoughtful Christians and churches in urban areas or rural citizens seeking to read and impassioned cry for the value of the urban.

[Erik · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book introducing Christians to New Urbanism and explaining the need to build and encourage communities at the civic level. I especially liked sections about the importance of having to deal with strangers as individuals and as a community, and the dangers of the a la carte socializing that comes with reclusive and car-based lifestyles. The marginalization of non-driving people in car-centric areas was also striking.

It's hard for me to negatively criticize a book that I agreed with at almost every turn, but while I agree with the conclusions, the argumentation that backs them up often suffers from conflating large terms with imperfect examples. And the dislike of suburban sprawl, while I agree with it, isn't likely to convince those who are inclined to disagree, but rather to polarize them and turn them away from the book's ideas entirely.

[Drick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, written by a Presbyterian pastor in Missoula, MT looks at the impact of place, buildings, sidewalks and other physical dimensions of communities and their impact on relationship in a community. As a pastor then he also suggests some theological implications of structure. This book introduced me to New Urbanism, a movement within urban studies and architeccture that calls people back to more community-minded structures in cities and towns. It is a very anti-suburb, anti-car perspective tht challenges much of what we take for granted. He tends to be a bit preachy and elitist, but its worth looking at.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting conversation starter about the role of Christians in building better cities.

* - Reserved for nonfiction. Worth a read if you're interested in the subject. Check out from library.

** - Good. May be inconsistent and flawed, but overall worth a read if you're in the mood for that genre. Check out from library.

*** - Very good. Recommended as a book that is either wonderfully written, informative, challenging, beautiful... but not all of the above. Check out from library or buy on Kindle.

**** - Great. Go out and read.

***** - Classic. MUST READ and should be on your bookshelf

[scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of my main interests are city planning and Christianity. Jacobson demonstrates how these two issues are intimately linked. He shows how the built environment is not just made up of buildings, roads and shopping malls, but that together they can create places of community or places of isolation.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jacobsen encourages Christians to embrace the stewardship of the city as many have already embraced stewardship of other natural and intangible resources. He presents the ideas of new urbanism, civic responsibility, and third places in a Christian context - and in doing so makes faith and city life less incongruous.

[Krista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely amazing book. When I picked it up I thought there was no way he could make it work--linking Christian theology with the tenets of the New Urbanism movement re. sustainability, walkable cities, etc.--but it was quite well done. He stumbled a little at the end in his conclusions, but still quite an interesting book.

[Winnie Thornton · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't agree with everything Jacobsen says, I don't like his tone or his prose, and if I have to read one more thing about perfect little Missoula, I'm going to be more than a little miffed. Plus, this book has about twice the word-count it needs; you could basically wash it hot and let it shrink. Why did this have to crown Senior Traditio? Phooey!

[Jeremy Kozdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

An examination of the interaction of faith and our built environment. Challenged a lot of notions of about what I value in where I live and what I ought to value. Certainly will (and has) effected where I do and want to live.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concerning faith and our modern cities. Relevant to my studies and deserving of Christendom's attention, but lacking authoritative depth. Secular works by many others fill in the gaps.