Through watching the films of “My Brooklyn” and “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City”, we see that it is impossible to avoid the changes along with the developments of cities. As we see, most power which used to decide a change was held by the government or some other industries. Old streets and old systems created a specific environment and safety for our public life, however, when it becomes an obstacle for the development of a city, personal property or privatization will no longer be respected. We appreciate what had done by Jane on battling on the decision of tearing up the entire neighborhood. Without her hard work, we would not know what New York would be like today. Still no one will blame on the heavy traffic in New York today because that was how it is like always. But this situation will not last forever, since people and city are always counted as a whole and the thoughts of people are always keep changing, the original cities will be changed along with the developments of society eventually.

“Change” within cities come about when there is a shift of ideas and ideals to make a profit from the land that is currently being used to bring communities together. From the films we watched there was one command trend that I observed. Where ever there was a possibility to make a profit and drive out the lower class is when the “city” would push to implement change. Not everyone can be pleased when change happens especially the people that it affects however, the victim to these changes should have a strong influence on how this change is implemented because the future of these cities rely on how people interact with the cities and its environment.

The environment and society are changes managed in a city. For example, people manage changes in a city if they are willing or desperate for change. Also, change is managed by how people react to something and if they don’t favor how the government is changing the city. However, the people have the rights to change it and are the ones who decide what needed to be changed for the goods of the city and the residents. As for the rights, there’s always ”new rights” to be fought for. Therefore people do have the rights to manage change in the city for good cause.

Change is not a very easy pill to swallow, especially when its somewhere you grow up and call your home. Most of the time, the community does not have a say in a changes made to a area, such as a new building, project, institution, or renovation. The power of change is held by the government, or the property owners, in that case, making it difficult for a community of people to have a say in these projects. The goal of these owners or developers is to make progress and push for a modern and urbanized society, while the community might disagree and say that original buildings or areas kept in original condition are what keep the culture of the community. It is impossible to satisfy everyone, however thinking about the the future generations and creating a society that is built on modernistic thinking and lifestyles of the future is important, while keeping parts that are original. Having this balance is the best way to satisfy the minds of developers and the members of the community.

The development of a city requires the use of “change”. This could symbolize many things, perhaps, the change in society, culture, and housing. “My Brooklyn” represented the early stages of how change would affect a society, where developers would invest money in Brooklyn and start to design and create different spaces to eventually kick out the current people placed there. They would increase the rent or simply notifying them and leave them with no alternative to leave. Change is managed very quietly, completely ignoring the current society, and satisfying the needs of the people that will leave in the future there. The city dominates change, they create and outbreak laws so developers will have an easy access to invest and build. However, developers manage change, they are the ones with money, and the ones who push the city to create the “change” with no hesitation. Do we have a right in the city? Indeed, we do. We live here, we are the ones that occupies the space and the ones that bring the space to life. ” Citizen Jane: Battle for the City ” is a great example of unity and strength. The principal character Jane, use the power of observation to protest on the cruel change that the city proposed. An extraordinary woman, with no architecture background, was able to analyze and critique the developers and architects on how idiotic their plans were. She took every advantage as a citizen to influence the rest of the community so they can protest against the city. We are the heart of a city, and we have the right to give our opinions if “change” is affecting us. Nobody said “change” won’t be hard, however it should help the current community and provide solutions for the future.

In both films “My Brooklyn” and “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City” shows that is the people with money who have the power and right to decide whether to construct or to demolish. We should have a bit of right upon constructions because it affects us. Changes in the city are managed by rich people without previous notice. Government and people that pay for construction should also see the other side of the coin, they have to analyze pros and cons, and more in depth cons because it will affect us and could be for them too. As in the film pointed out, “Buildings isolate communities” meaning as also said in the film that women were more safe without highway, because the community had look out for each other.

Based on the films “My Brooklyn” and “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City” it shows that there is no stopping the change of the city, whether it’s good or bad change. There must be a change in order for a city to be progressive. There are many ways to go about making a difference to have a successful outcome, but the City of New York did these changes the wrong way. The city is only concerned about the profit they would make when drawing up plans. They only listen to what the planners have to say and how much money would they gain. It seems as the people of the city doesn’t have a say on what should change. Everything comes as a total surprise to them when they are abruptly pushed out of their neighborhood with the higher rent charges or the owners be brought out by the city. The people of the city should have a say in these changes; their opinion should matter.

The films we watched in class “My Brooklyn” and “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City” clearly shows that we do not have any right to our City. Many changes can be made automatically without asking the community for our opinion. Before our city used to be safe whereas everyone got along and would look after each other children. In our city today, we are afraid to walk during the day or late at night because it became very violent. Also, while building the highway they did not think the problems it was going to cause. The traffic in our city is insane. I feel like every change that is made to our city brings another problem behind it. The Fulton Mall is where many people knew each other and would like to shop, but now what prevents them from going is that there are many tall buildings that were constructed for office use. Many persons no longer feel the sense of going because it is not the same. If we worked as a community there would not have been many problems in our city, everyone will feel secure and would have a different perspective on our city.