I discovered Jane's work very recently through the "The Economy of Cities" (I haven't read her classic "The Death and Life of Great American Cities" yet but I've read others) and it's been a real eye opener for me. It's was very enlightening to discover a theory on how important cities are to growth and well-being.

Some of her concepts such as "import replacement" (a free market process of discovery and division of labor within a city) can be very helpful for cities aiming to mimick San Francisco / Silicon Valley such as Lille in France (with its Euratechnologies neighbourhood, where I work) or Shenzen (now that it's losing its toy factories and moving up the economic laders). And the importance of "eyes on the street" for everybody's safety, of diversity of shops/works for economic resilience, of serendipity for the process of innovation (the creation of new work, in Jane Jacobs terms), etc.

And by the way, her books are an easy read too ! I'd say a real "classic" : even more 40 years later there's still some real insights for non-urbanists.