Putting Public Back Into Public Space — Jeff Risom Partner, Gehl Architects

Treat yourself to a useful talk: "Putting Public Back Into Public Space" by Jeff Risom Partner Gehl Architects https://t.co/ofyP0kh213
— Gil Penalosa (@Penalosa_G) March 3, 2015

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A glimpse into Lerner's #UrbanAcupuncture

MT A glimpse into Lerner's notebook, foreword by Jan Gehl @sustaincities #UrbanAcupuncture http://t.co/nMjt3YcXSU pic.twitter.com/b8yA8vKCVM

— Gehl Architects (@citiesforpeople) October 9, 2014

I never get tired of this quote — "It took me 40 years to get rid of my education” — Jan Gehl @citiesforpeople

I never get tired of this quote — "It took me 40 years to get rid of my education” — Jan Gehl @citiesforpeople http://t.co/GO7t3V65pg

— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) June 6, 2014

"It took me 40 years to get rid of my education” — Jan Gehl @citiesforpeople

"It took me 40 years to get rid of my education” — Jan Gehl @citiesforpeople http://t.co/1D77L1b4jN

— NanaimoCommons (@NanaimoCommons) February 27, 2014

Attractive and accessible booklet describes how cities can become more sustainable through better transport planning. http://t.co/lf4gZH7q9T

— Todd Litman (@LitmanVTPI) February 20, 2014

Must-watch — Jan Gehl The Human Scale

Rent it on iTunes - Movies - The Human Scale

Jan Gehl says that #Vancouver's @granville_isle is the best example of all his principles of life between buildings. pic.twitter.com/cvkM09V39G
— Brent Toderian (@BrentToderian) February 8, 2014

And in Summation and Conclusion (ahem)... My Thoughts Submitted to Nanaimo's Transportation Master Plan

Thanks to Nanaimo City Councillor George Anderson, Chair of the City of Nanaimo Transportation Advisory Committee for providing numerous opportunities to submit ideas to the Transportation Master Plan and to meet and discuss them in person.

These are the areas I will be looking to see addressed in the final Plan —

• Elimination of all commercial inter-city traffic from the Island Highway and its return to its proper role as a city street in the service of the neighbourhoods it passes through. Speed limit max 30kph as it passes through neighbourhoods. A detailed, objective analysis should be completed on the economic and social impacts of this highway.

• Speed limit reductions to 30kph throughout all residential areas. 50kph restricted to a few arterials, and these with narrowed lanes, HOV and bus lanes, cycling infrastructure. A pedestrian friendly environment will follow naturally from these improvements.

• Cancelling costly road infrastructure projects like the Bowen/Boxwood project. You can’t solve “congestion” by road building. No city anywhere has ever done it. Time to accept the proven law of induced demand. And related, I would like to see careful consideration given to Development Cost Charges revenues when they are used to justify road building projects. Recognition that they are taxes, not paid by the developer or the builder but by of course… the taxpayer. Are they “new monies” or diverted from elsewhere in the local economy? As taxes do they take their place in the intense competition between civic spending priorities. Are they used to pay for past road building projects and in that regard are they not part of a kind of Ponzi scheme?

• The inequity between the municipal taxation yield between the inner city and the low population density suburbs should be recognized and addressed. A one size fits all transportation plan that attempts to cope with decades of poor zoning and land use decisions is, I fear, headed to failure. Cities like Nanaimo need “Inner City Containment Boundaries” in which amenities and infrastructure are commensurate with taxation yields that are four and five times higher per acre than the outlying areas. The suburbs should be prepared to see reduced services and increased taxes. The suburbs should continue to be a consumer alternative for those prepared to pay their costs.

• And finally, I want to submit as formally as possible (by some official protocol in place if required) a request to your Transportation Advisory Committee to require that the Transportation Master Plan be peer reviewed and critiqued. I’ve mentioned earlier SFU’s Gordon Price or former Vancouver Chief Planner Brent Toderian could offer fresh prospective. The organizations working with Red Deer Alberta, as you and your staff and consultant know, Danish architect Jan Gehl and Cities 8-80 headed by Gil Penalosa, would also be prospects. 

Few things will have a greater impact on the civic, social and economic life of Nanaimo than fresh thinking about mobility in a city that has been allowed to develop to four or five times larger in square miles than begins to be sustainable.

Gehl paraphrases JaneJacobs "if we let planners, traffic engineers go ahead, we will have made great US cities dead" http://t.co/RKI4DaO7s2
— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) November 22, 2013

The Human Scale Trailer http://t.co/VWSMPCHIsv @citiesforpeople http://t.co/ylgR0Qnceo
— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) November 15, 2013

From Cities for People —Living Innovation Zones in San Francisco

It is in our common interest to create a city where quality of life is the key objective. We all have an opportunity as well as a shared responsibility to help the city to become an attractive place to live and work.

But what does it take to inspire private companies to invest effort and money in developing the quality of the public space? Over time numerous financial models for private investment and operation of public spaces have been tested – models for POPS (Privately Owned Public Spaces), BIDS ( Business Improvement Districts) , PPP (Public – Private – Partnerships) have all been implemented and many lessons have been learnt. Now something new is happening in San Francisco. The acronym for this new initiative is LIZ – Living Innovation Zones. They have been developed in partnership between San Francisco’s planning department, the Mayor’s Office of Civic Innovation MOCI and Gehl Architects as a spin-off of the three-year development of the Better Market Street project on Market Street in San Francisco. Read more: Crowd-funding Public Space | Cities for People

“First life, then spaces, then buildings – the other way around never works.” @citiesforpeople @PPS_Placemaking http://t.co/3T56Wrym85
— TheSidewalkBallet (@1sidewalkballet) October 7, 2013

From On the Commons — The Fall and Rise of Great Public Spaces

Opponents of Copenhagen’s first pedestrian street warned that people would abandon the area if cars were removed; now it’s the pulsing heart of the city. (Photo courtesy of Gehl Architects.) 

It’s a dark and wintry night in Copenhagen, and the streets are bustling. The temperature stands above freezing, but winds blow hard enough to knock down a good share of the bicycles parked all around. Scandinavians are notorious for their stolid reserve, but it’s all smiles and animated conversation here as people of many ages and affiliations stroll through the city center on a Thursday evening. Read more: The Fall and Rise of Great Public Spaces | On the Commons

From Assemble Papers — @citiesforpeople: Jan Gehl Melbourne Walkabout

Swanston streetscape. Busier than Regent street London. Photo courtesy Avlxyz (CC-license via Flickr).

Jan Gehl, renowned Danish architect, urban design consultant and champion of the human scale, is a great believer in walking. “There is more to walking than walking”, he says, a point which Mitra Anderson-Oliver has cause to reflect on over the two days spent pursuing Jan on foot during his trip to Melbourne for an international study tour, during the hottest autumn week in Victoria’s history. Read more: Cities for people: Jan Gehl | Assemble Papers