For more than 40 years, the architect and city planner Jan Gehl has been involved in redesigning or creating new designs for squares, streets, even entire city districts, for the benefit of the residents. He bases himself on insights that he has gained through many years of studying city situations in various countries. By observing megacities in detail himself, Gehl develops methods and strategies for bringing significant positive change to dysfunctional and inhospitable urban landscapes. This takes account of demographic developments, changing lifestyles, and design processes. The most important principle behind Jan Gehl's urban planning on a human scale is that the urban space has to be experienced at the speed of a pedestrian, instead of from a vehicle. This is the only way to succeed in making both traditional metropolises and rapidly growing cities in developing and emerging countries into cities for people.
The book presents Jan Gehl's work in the area of new buildings, as well as the redesign of urban spaces and streets. Presentations of his planning models through text and images, as well as of his planning principles and methods, illuminate how vibrant, safe, sustainable, and healthy cities can be created in future.