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Cities for People on Planetizens Top 10 Books of 2010

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February 22, 2011
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Planetizen, the public-interest information exchange for the urban planning, design, and development community, have published their ninth annual list of best books on urban planning, design and development. Among the Top 10 books published in 2010 is Professor Jan Gehls, Cities for People, published on Island Press.

Here is what Planetizen have to say about Cities for People:

“With a physician’s understanding of humanity, Jan Gehl is able to examine planning questions of the last forty years with impressive clarity and focus. His ideals – rejection of ideology in favor of common sense, respect for people and scale – offer a panacea to many of the environmental and health crises faced in urban areas across the globe. This volume is organized succinctly, first into sections focused on human responses to locations and then, as it becomes progressively more practical, cities themselves. There is a careful blend of analysis and case study throughout, providing a backdrop to Gehl’s tenets of urban living, which are disseminated at junctures within chapters.”

Among the other noteworthy books on the ist are:

What We See: Advancing the Observations of Jane Jacobs – Stephen A. Goldsmith and Lynn Elizabeth, Editors

Makeshift Metropolis: Ideas About Cities – By Witold Rybczynski

Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Spaces – By Sharon Zukin

Check out Planetizens full top 10 books list here.

“Our Cities Ourselves” exhibit travels to Mexico and Brazil

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February 6, 2011
Cities, News
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The 10 principles for sustainable transport at the Our Cities Ourselves exhibition at the AIA in New York City

“Our Cities, Ourselves”, a traveling exhibition about the future of urban areas, opened February 2nd in Mexico City and in Rio de Janeiro. The exhibition builds on “10 Principles for Transportation in Urban Life” created by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) in consultation with Gehl Architects.

In Mexico City the exhibit will include lectures from Jan Gehl, Gehl Architects, and in Rio de Janeiro David Sim of Gehl Architects will be speaking.

Read more here.

Jan Gehl speaking in London

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January 21, 2011
Cities, Presentations
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Professor Jan Gehl at The Economists conference 'Creating tomorrows liveable cities' in London earlier this week.

Earlier this week, professor Jan Gehl was giving the closing keynote at The Economists conference in London, Creating tomorrow’s liveable cities. View the full programme and the other speakers at the conference here.

Well-being, community cohesion and a thriving local economy are now high on the agenda for today’s citizens. Intelligent policies and design for urban areas can provide answers, in one way or another, to all of these concerns and more; while stimulating local economies and creating jobs becomes more important than ever against a background of budgetary constraints and slower economic growth. A new government in the UK and a new austerity budget will dictate the climate in which urban planning and regeneration policies are formed but, as local governments begin to take this into account, what will tomorrow’s priorities for urban living be?

Watch Jan Gehls presentation here.

Jan Gehls newest book, Cities for People – review and a talk

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January 11, 2011
Books
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Urban life is in many ways a matter of rhythms, and the rhythms of human movement and perception have found a gifted interpreter in Gehl. Every city that has implemented his ideas has revived some of its livelier qualities, or discovered them anew.

(Bill Millard, ArchNewsNow.com in a review of professor Jan Gehls newest book, Cities for People, island Press, 2010)

Read Bill Millards full review here.

Professor Jan Gehl’s talk on Cities for People at the Cooper Hewitt – National Design Museum, in New York City:

‘Cities for People’ among 2010s must-read books

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January 3, 2011
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Jan Gehls Cities for People was published to much acclaim in 2010

Professor Jan Gehls most recent book, Cities for People, has been chosen by the website GOOD as one of 2010′s 15 must-read books.

Alissa Walker, Contributing Editor, GOOD writes about professor Jan Gehls book:

“I met the amazing Jan Gehl at a conference this year and instantly developed a design crush. Gehl is a Danish architect who is best known for helping to transform the city of Copenhagen from a city for cars to, as he calls it, a city for people. Where so many urbanism books read like a prescriptive list of cold, hardscape improvements to public space, Gehl asks architects to focus not on the infrastructure itself, but on the people who will ultimately use it. Using language like asking architects to be “sweet” to pedestrians, and telling designers to “invite” bikers to ride on the streets, Gehl manages to deliver a witty, human, and altogether enjoyable take on urban design. The book is filled with photos of people using cities around the world, and in that sense it’s not just for designers—it will entertain, delight, and educate anyone with an interest in the future of where we choose to live.”

GOOD is the integrated media platform for people who want to live well and do good. It is a company and community for the people, businesses, and NGOs moving the world forward. GOOD’s mission is to provide content, experiences, and utilities to serve this community. GOOD currently produces a website, videos, live events, and a print magazine. Launched in September 2006, the company has garnered praise for its unique editorial perspective and fresh visual aesthetic and is quickly positioning itself as a significant new voice in our culture.

Other must-reads on the list include Patti Smiths recollection of new York life in the 1960s and 1970s, Just Kids, Rolling Stone guitarist extraordinaire Keith Richards memoirs, Life, and Tom rachmans The Imperfectionists.

Jan Gehl on the neighborhood

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December 14, 2010
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Infographic by The National Building Museum in Washington DC, USA

During his recent visit to Washington DC, professor Jan Gehl was interviewed by the National Building Museum as part of their Intelligent Cities series examination of the topic ‘the Neighborhood‘.

National Building Museum curator Susan Piedmont-Palladino says:

“Only 40 years ago almost half of our children walked or biked to elementary school. Now, just 13% do. Half of the remaining 87% are driven to school in a car. In 1969, so few children were driven to school that you—if you were a kid then—probably remember who they were. Now the numbers have almost exactly reversed, but it happened so gradually that it was almost imperceptible. There’s one less child on the sidewalk, one more strapped in the car seat.

Walking and biking to elementary school used to be common. Now, it’s rare. What happened? We started building fewer, bigger schools between neighborhoods. We built new wide roads to reduce congestion on the way to school. We thought schools would be safer away from Main Street, with its sidewalks of commerce and distractions. We can see the consequences now, making connections between those decisions and rising health problems. With better information, can we make our neighborhoods intelligent?”

From New York to Hobart – making cities ‘people friendly’

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December 7, 2010
Cities, News, Research
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Jan Gehl - here photographed in Sydney.

This is a fabulous city with a fabulous setting and a fabulous waterfront, what are we waiting for?” Jan Gehl has been in Hobart, Tasmania for the launch of Gehl Architects Hobart Public Space and Public Life survey – a strategy for how to make a city with people in mind. The survey is first stage of Hobart Inner City Development Plan.

The Public Space and Public Life survey report is focusing on a series of main themes: How to take advantage of and underline Hobart’s unique setting as a city by the sea sitting in a wonderful landscape, how the city can become a fine place for people to move around (more on foot, cycle and transit compared to now), how the public outdoor spaces can be more inviting for all sorts of people and have greater diversity of use. Finally Gehl Architect also look at the quality of the appearance of the streetscapes at eyelevel.

Listen to an interview with Jan on Australian radio: From New York to Hobart; making cities ‘people friendly’ – ABC Hobart – Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Here are some of the reactions in the press to Jan Gehls visit and Gehl Architects survey.

Chinas national television CCTV visiting Gehl Architects

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November 28, 2010
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Left to right: Yan Bo, director CCTV, Qi shaohua, director in chief CCTV, professor Jan Gehl, and Jessie Ji, interpreter, in Gehl Architects office in Copenhagen (not in picture Mr. Shan Zeng).

China’s national television CCTV Kejiao Channel (Science and Education Channel) have visited Denmark from 21st to 27th November 2010 as a part of their filming of 12 documentaries on “Global Warming and Cooling”. Along with visits to Novo Nordisk, Novozymes, Rockwool and Velux the film crew and journalists also stopped by Gehl Architects for an interview with professor Jan Gehl on the issues of cities and global warming.

The documentaries, the first on global warming and world civilization made by Chinese media, will be jointly produced by CCTV and China Meteorological Administration.

Professor Jan Gehl together with CCTV film crew in Gehl Architects office in Copenhagen.

The 12 documentaries on “Global Warming and Cooling” will be broadcasted on national television in the middle of 2011 at 3 different channels of CCTV, namely CCTV-1 CCTV-4 and CCTV-10 . The footage about Denmark will be shown in the documentaries which will be split into themes.

Apart from that, CCTV will make a 30-min feature programme on Denmark based on the footage. The whole programme has been approved by the National Development and Reform Commission – the highest government ministry in charge of international climate change negotiations and China’s domestic actions and the Information Office of the State Council and obtained support from the two authorities which shows the seriousness of this project.

The project is in relation to post-COP15 activities. It will help to continue awareness of Denmark as a first mover within green tech and sustainable development.

The visit was arranged by Ulrik Fonsmark Andreasen, International Press Centre, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

China’s national television CCTV filming in Gehl Architects office in Copenhagen

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