 Euclidean zoning represents a functionalist way of thinking that uses mechanistic principles to conceive of the city as a fixed machine.This conception is in opposition to the view of the city as a continually evolving organism or living system, as first espoused by the German urbanist Hans Reichow.Planning and community activist Jane Jacobs wrote extensively on the connections between Euclidean zoning and the destruction and displacement of communities in New York City.