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It is a timely tale of what can happen when engaged citizens fight the power for the sake of a better world. Arguably, no one did more to shape our understanding of the modern American city than Jane Jacobs, the visionary activist and writer who fought to preserve urban communities in the face of destructive development projects.

In 1989, together with a group of female friends, Su Friedrich rented and renovated an old loft in Williamsburg, an unassuming working-class district of Brooklyn. In 2005, this former industrial zone was designated a residential area, and the factories, manufacturers, and artists' lofts were priced out by property speculators lured by tax breaks. Friedrich spent five years documenting with her camera the changes in the area between the East River and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

• Fulton Mall 2004
• The downtown Brooklyn plan
• History (redlining)
• The plan passes
• The downtown Brooklyn partnership, FUREE
• Offices turn into condos
• Zoning & subsidies
• The alternative plan
• Albee Square Mall
• Who really rezoned downtown Brooklyn?
• Fulton Mall 2012.

"My Brooklyn follows director Kelly Anderson's journey, as a Brooklyn gentrifier, to understand the forces reshaping her neighborhood. The film documents the redevelopment of Fulton Mall, a bustling African-American and Caribbean commercial district that - despite its status as the third most profitable shopping area in New York City - is maligned for its inability to appeal to the affluent residents who have come to live around it. As a hundred small businesses are replaced by high rise luxury housing and chain retail, Anderson uncovers the web of global corporations, politicians and secretive public-private partnerships that drive seemingly natural neighborhood change. The film's ultimate question is increasingly relevant on a global scale: who has a right to live in cities and determine their future?" -- http://www.newday.com/

Documents William H. Whyte's research on the design and use of small urban spaces. Investigates the factors which encourage and inhibit the use of plazas, and makes recommendations for their successful design.