THE HUMAN SCALE questions our assumptions about modernity, exploring what happens when we put people into the center of our equations.
For 40 years the Danish architect Jan Gehl has systematically studied human behavior in cities. His starting point was an interest in people, more than buildings – in what he called Life Between Buildings. What made it exist? When was it destroyed? How could it be brought back? This led to studies of how human beings use the streets. For instance: How many people pass this street throughout a 24 hour period? How much of the street space are the various groups allowed to use?
Jan Gehl's studies inspired the planning of Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen. His ideas inspired the creation of walking streets, the building and improvements of bike paths and the reorganization of parks, squares and other public spaces throughout this city and in many other cities in the Nordic region. Around the world cities like Melbourne, Dhaka, New York, Chongqing and Christchurch are now also being inspired by Gehl’s work and by the developments in Copenhagen.
