Island Press, 2009 Cloth: 978-1-59726-573-7 | eISBN: 978-1-59726-984-1 | Paper: 978-1-59726-574-4 Library of Congress Classification HT166.G438 2010 Dewey Decimal Classification 307.1216
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK
For more than forty years Jan Gehl has helped to transform urban environments around the world based on his research into the ways people actually use—or could use—the spaces where they live and work. In this revolutionary book, Gehl presents his latest work creating (or recreating) cityscapes on a human scale. He clearly explains the methods and tools he uses to reconfigure unworkable cityscapes into the landscapes he believes they should be: cities for people.
Taking into account changing demographics and changing lifestyles, Gehl emphasizes four human issues that he sees as essential to successful city planning. He explains how to develop cities that are Lively, Safe, Sustainable, and Healthy. Focusing on these issues leads Gehl to think of even the largest city on a very small scale. For Gehl, the urban landscape must be considered through the five human senses and experienced at the speed of walking rather than at the speed of riding in a car or bus or train. This small-scale view, he argues, is too frequently neglected in contemporary projects.
In a final chapter, Gehl makes a plea for city planning on a human scale in the fast- growing cities of developing countries. A “Toolbox,” presenting key principles, overviews of methods, and keyword lists, concludes the book.
The book is extensively illustrated with over 700 photos and drawings of examples from Gehl’s work around the globe.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Jan Gehl is a founding partner of Gehl Architects—Urban Quality Consultants. He is the author of Life Between Buildings and Public Spaces, Public Life. He has received numerous awards for his work and is widely credited with creating and renewing urban spaces in cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Melbourne, New York City, London, and many others.
REVIEWS
"Jan Gehl is our greatest observer of urban quality and an indispensable philosopher of cities as solutions to the environmental and health crises that we face. With over half the world's population now in urban areas, the entire planet needs to learn the lessons he offers in Cities for People."
— Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation
"This book elaborates on many of Gehl's seminal ideas, examines some of the world's cities that have successfully improved over the last few decades, and states the challenges for the future. Many generations will lead happier lives and cities will be more competitive if their leaders heed his advice."
— Enrique Peñalosa, former Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia
"Jan Gehl continues to astonish us with his insight into what really makes cities work. He has a global reach in this book based on work he has done in Europe, Australia, and America with comparative data on how pedestrians use public spaces. The deep appeal is how quickly he has been able to assist some cities in turning their traffic-riddled streets into havens for people."
— Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University, Australia
"Jan Gehl's new manifesto…Pages will be dog-eared, margins annotated… accessibly deployed framework of research and a logical, lucid framework for all the telling details and surprising data. The book organizes a set of observations that will strike some readers as obvious, others as radical, but practically all as convincing, revealing how deeply grounded Gehl's system is in common sense. This kind of synthesis is no small task, and Gehl performs it with aplomb."
— ArchNewsNow
"If Cities for People is widely read and widely applied, the world's urban life will be immeasurably better."
— New Urban News
"Fascinating guide on how to create cities that local residents fall in love with, rather than simply put up with."
— Shareable: Cities
"Jan Gehl's most recent book—Cities for People—brought with it a lot of excitement and expectations. With a track record like his, however, it comes as no surprise that Gehl's strong perspective, clear prose and rigorous research is not a disappointment. Continuing his quest to secure the importance of the human experience as a top priority when planning and designing cities, Cities for People is a succinct collection of his experience and lessons to-date. Ultimately, Cities for People is one of those books that everybody—no matter what level you are in the industry—is bound to learn from. Clear and accessible, it's a must-read for students and early practitioners of planning, architecture, and landscape design, as well as anybody interested creating humane pedestrian cities. If one hasn't read any of Gehl's previous books, this is also a great place to start."
— Re:place Magazine
"In his well-illustrated and accessible new book, Cities for People, Jan Gehl fills in the missing link in modern planning: how human beings actually function and respond to the built environment."
— Planning
"Jan Gehl's book constitutes part of a worldview; it embodies a fundamental re-orientation in the way that we regard and adopt knowledge about the behaviour of individuals and communities in the development of our cities."
— Urban Design
"...fascinating...Gehl keeps his latest effort engaging from start to finish."
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreward and Preface
Chapter One- The Human Dimension
1.1 The human dimension
1.2 First we shape the cities- and then they shape us
1.3 The city as meeting place
Chapter Two- Senses and Scale
2.1 Senses and scale
2.2 Senses and communication
2.3 The shattered scale
Chapter Three- A lively, safe sustainable and healthy city
3.1 The lively city
3.2 The safe city
3.3 The sustainable city
3.4 The healthy city
Chapter Four- The city at eye level
4.1 The battle for quality is oin the small scale
4.2 Good cities for walking
4.3 Good cities for staying
4.4 Good cities for meeting
4.5 Self-expression, play and exercise
4.6 Good places, fine scale
4.7 Good weather at eye level, please
4.8 Beautiufl cities, good experiences
4.9 Good cities for bicycling
Chapter Five-Life, space, buildings- in that order
5.1 The Brasilia Syndrome
5.2 Life, space, buildings- in that order
Chapter Six- Developing cities
6.1 Developing cities
6.2 The human dimension- universal starting point
Toolbox
Appendix
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
Island Press, 2009 Cloth: 978-1-59726-573-7 eISBN: 978-1-59726-984-1 Paper: 978-1-59726-574-4
For more than forty years Jan Gehl has helped to transform urban environments around the world based on his research into the ways people actually use—or could use—the spaces where they live and work. In this revolutionary book, Gehl presents his latest work creating (or recreating) cityscapes on a human scale. He clearly explains the methods and tools he uses to reconfigure unworkable cityscapes into the landscapes he believes they should be: cities for people.
Taking into account changing demographics and changing lifestyles, Gehl emphasizes four human issues that he sees as essential to successful city planning. He explains how to develop cities that are Lively, Safe, Sustainable, and Healthy. Focusing on these issues leads Gehl to think of even the largest city on a very small scale. For Gehl, the urban landscape must be considered through the five human senses and experienced at the speed of walking rather than at the speed of riding in a car or bus or train. This small-scale view, he argues, is too frequently neglected in contemporary projects.
In a final chapter, Gehl makes a plea for city planning on a human scale in the fast- growing cities of developing countries. A “Toolbox,” presenting key principles, overviews of methods, and keyword lists, concludes the book.
The book is extensively illustrated with over 700 photos and drawings of examples from Gehl’s work around the globe.
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Jan Gehl is a founding partner of Gehl Architects—Urban Quality Consultants. He is the author of Life Between Buildings and Public Spaces, Public Life. He has received numerous awards for his work and is widely credited with creating and renewing urban spaces in cities around the world, including Copenhagen, Melbourne, New York City, London, and many others.
REVIEWS
"Jan Gehl is our greatest observer of urban quality and an indispensable philosopher of cities as solutions to the environmental and health crises that we face. With over half the world's population now in urban areas, the entire planet needs to learn the lessons he offers in Cities for People."
— Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation
"This book elaborates on many of Gehl's seminal ideas, examines some of the world's cities that have successfully improved over the last few decades, and states the challenges for the future. Many generations will lead happier lives and cities will be more competitive if their leaders heed his advice."
— Enrique Peñalosa, former Mayor of Bogotá, Colombia
"Jan Gehl continues to astonish us with his insight into what really makes cities work. He has a global reach in this book based on work he has done in Europe, Australia, and America with comparative data on how pedestrians use public spaces. The deep appeal is how quickly he has been able to assist some cities in turning their traffic-riddled streets into havens for people."
— Peter Newman, Professor of Sustainability, Curtin University, Australia
"Jan Gehl's new manifesto…Pages will be dog-eared, margins annotated… accessibly deployed framework of research and a logical, lucid framework for all the telling details and surprising data. The book organizes a set of observations that will strike some readers as obvious, others as radical, but practically all as convincing, revealing how deeply grounded Gehl's system is in common sense. This kind of synthesis is no small task, and Gehl performs it with aplomb."
— ArchNewsNow
"If Cities for People is widely read and widely applied, the world's urban life will be immeasurably better."
— New Urban News
"Fascinating guide on how to create cities that local residents fall in love with, rather than simply put up with."
— Shareable: Cities
"Jan Gehl's most recent book—Cities for People—brought with it a lot of excitement and expectations. With a track record like his, however, it comes as no surprise that Gehl's strong perspective, clear prose and rigorous research is not a disappointment. Continuing his quest to secure the importance of the human experience as a top priority when planning and designing cities, Cities for People is a succinct collection of his experience and lessons to-date. Ultimately, Cities for People is one of those books that everybody—no matter what level you are in the industry—is bound to learn from. Clear and accessible, it's a must-read for students and early practitioners of planning, architecture, and landscape design, as well as anybody interested creating humane pedestrian cities. If one hasn't read any of Gehl's previous books, this is also a great place to start."
— Re:place Magazine
"In his well-illustrated and accessible new book, Cities for People, Jan Gehl fills in the missing link in modern planning: how human beings actually function and respond to the built environment."
— Planning
"Jan Gehl's book constitutes part of a worldview; it embodies a fundamental re-orientation in the way that we regard and adopt knowledge about the behaviour of individuals and communities in the development of our cities."
— Urban Design
"...fascinating...Gehl keeps his latest effort engaging from start to finish."
— Publishers Weekly, starred review
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreward and Preface
Chapter One- The Human Dimension
1.1 The human dimension
1.2 First we shape the cities- and then they shape us
1.3 The city as meeting place
Chapter Two- Senses and Scale
2.1 Senses and scale
2.2 Senses and communication
2.3 The shattered scale
Chapter Three- A lively, safe sustainable and healthy city
3.1 The lively city
3.2 The safe city
3.3 The sustainable city
3.4 The healthy city
Chapter Four- The city at eye level
4.1 The battle for quality is oin the small scale
4.2 Good cities for walking
4.3 Good cities for staying
4.4 Good cities for meeting
4.5 Self-expression, play and exercise
4.6 Good places, fine scale
4.7 Good weather at eye level, please
4.8 Beautiufl cities, good experiences
4.9 Good cities for bicycling
Chapter Five-Life, space, buildings- in that order
5.1 The Brasilia Syndrome
5.2 Life, space, buildings- in that order
Chapter Six- Developing cities
6.1 Developing cities
6.2 The human dimension- universal starting point
Toolbox
Appendix
REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
If you are a student who cannot use this book in printed form, BiblioVault may be able to supply you
with an electronic file for alternative access.
Please have the accessibility coordinator at your school fill out this form.
It can take 2-3 weeks for requests to be filled.
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE