A Brief History of City Planning from Jan Gehl

1955-60

• Car Invasion 
• "The Brasilia Syndrome" - city planning from 5 meters above the ground 
• The people scale is completely neglected
• The Planners: planning from above and from a distance 
• The Architects: more and more focused on form 
• The Traffic Planners: making rooms for the traffic, making cars happy 
• Who is looking after the people and the city at eye level?
• The Human Dimension is essentially lost

2010: Fifty Years Later

• Wanted: Lively, attractive, safe, sustainable, healthy city
• How? Jan Gehl has some ideas

Cities for People: We must bring back the principles of planning at a Human Scale to make cities first and foremost a place for people once again.

Jan Gehl is a world-renowned architect, urban designer, and author - see more about his approach in lectures and videos here! He is a founding partner of Gehl Architects, an "Urban Quality Consulting" firm that focuses on creating cities for people; mutually beneficial relationships between people's quality of life and their built environment. Re-orienting city design towards pedestrians and cyclists to improve quality of life for people has been a focus of Gehl's career. He is (among all the other people I highlight in my blog) amazing and someone I would dream to work with! 

 Source

LBJ "The Great Society" Speech, 1964

Below I paraphrase my favorite quotes from Lyndon B Johnson's speech at the University of Michigan:

• The purpose of protecting the life of our nation and preserving the liberty of our citizens is to pursue the happiness of our people. Our success in that pursuit is the test of our success as a nation.
• For a century we labored to settle and to subdue a continent. For half a century we called upon unbounded invention and untiring industry to create an order of plenty for all of our people. The challenge of the next half century is whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of our American civilization.
• The Great Society is a place where every child can find knowledge to enrich his mind and to enlarge his talents. It is a place where leisure is a welcome chance to build and reflect, not a feared cause of boredom and restlessness. It is a place where the city of man serves not only the needs of the body and the demands of commerce but the desire for beauty and the hunger for community. It is a place where man can renew contact with nature. It is a place which honors creation for its own sake and for what it adds to the understanding of the race. It is a place where men are more concerned with the quality of their goals than the quantity of their goods.
• But most of all, the Great Society is not a safe harbor, a resting place, a final objective, a finished work. It is a challenge constantly renewed, beckoning us toward a destiny where the meaning of our lives matches the marvelous products of our labor.
• The three places where we begin to build the Great Society: in our cities, in our countryside, and in our classrooms. Fifty years from now, there will be 400 million Americans, four-fifths of them in urban areas. In the remainder of this century urban population will double, city land will double, and we will have to build homes, and highways, and facilities equal to all those built since this country was first settled.
• Aristotle said, "Men come together in cities in order to live, but they remain together in order to live the good life." It is harder and harder to live the good life in American cities today. 
• The catalog of ills is long, there is the decay of the centers and the despoiling of the suburbs. There is not enough housing for our people or transportation for our traffic.
  Open land is vanishing and old landmarks are violated. 
• Worst of all, expansion is eroding the precious and time honored values of community with neighbors and communion with nature. The loss of these values breeds loneliness and boredom and indifference. 
• Our society will never be great until our cities are great. Today the frontier of imagination and innovation is inside those cities and not beyond their borders.
• New experiments are already going on. It will be the task of your generation to make the American city a place where future generations will come not only to live, but to live the good life.
• Will you join in the battle to build the Great Society, to prove that our material progress is only the foundation on which we will build a richer life of mind and spirit?
• There are those timid souls that say this battle cannot be won; that we are condemned to a soulless wealth. I do not agree. We have the power to shape the civilization that we want. But we need your will, and your labor, and your hearts, if we are to build that kind of society.
• Let us from this moment begin our work so that in the future men will look back and say, "It was then, after a long and weary way, that man turned the exploits of his genius to the full enrichment of his life."

This speech was given 50 years ago. Take a look at the last half century. As a society, have we been moving towards and building upon such ideals that allow a positive culture to flourish?

Source: PBS 

Parking Lots

Wastewater Management:

Germany

vs.

Somewhere in America (Source)

Aesthetics:

Copenhagen, Denmark

vs.

Everywhere in America

 Hybrid:

Germany

When the Snow Starts Falling...

How to get your car out of the snow

How to get your bike out of the snow: if it really had come to it, I suggest just pulling it out using your very own manpower...

 

 

Bicycles go hand and hand with resilience...

A Cycle Utopia: Copenhagen, DK

This post is intended to make a point about what prioritizing bicycle infrastructure can accomplish.

In a previous post I mention numerous benefits to bicycle commute. Read it here if you don't know why biking is so amazing. But, for me, the single most fascinating statistic about the bicycle culture in Copenhagen is the reason most people (56%) give for why they bike: "it's faster and more convenient." 

Um. What? I want to live in a place where it's easier to get to work, school, etc., by bike than it is by car. Can someone please start redesigning my city...now? What many people don't realize (besides the fact that a bicycle utopia is a real place) is that it is entirely possible to make this happen. You just need the right people pursuing the right priorities; a pretty stellar template exists for how to do it.

From a recent Copenhagen news source:

"We say that we don’t have a bicycle culture – we just have lots of people riding their bike. It’s like a ‘Vacuum Cleaner Culture’ — a tool to make their everyday life easier.” Said Mie Dyreberg Haldrup at Copenhagenize Design Co., an urban planning company which works closely with the City of Copenhagen’s Bicycle Office.

“It’s simply not (entirely) a question of branding ourselves as sustainable and healthy, but just a matter of getting quick and easy from A to B. We call it ‘A2Bism’.” Said Haldrup.

Many residents think the same, since according to a government poll, 56 percent of interviewed residents said the reason they bike is because “it’s faster and more convenient”.

The point is not that biking is great for a number of different reasons. The point is that biking is the fastest and most convenient way to get from point A to point B AND that biking is great for all those other reasons. But it's also just funny that Copenhageners could care less about biking being good for reasons x, y, z; they do it because it's easiest. And the only reason it's easiest for ~40% of commuters to bike rather than drive is because the city is being designed and advancing this way.

"Basically, Copenhagen is a great role model for other cities around the world considering the infrastructure, where cyclists has a great priority.” Said Haldrup. “The bicycle infrastructure of Copenhagen is intuitive, well designed and the city takes cycling seriously as transport and not as a fringe activity. We focus on ‘Citizen Cyclists'"

So... what can prioritizing bicycle infrastructure accomplish? Remember, this could be anyone's city.

You really have to see to believe how beautifully the CPH bike system works (my pictures do not do justice):

Stranded, broken down bikes everywhere? It could be worse... (I am Legend, anyone?)

President Clinton Lecture on Public Service

First Lecture by President Bill Clinton at Georgetown University in May 2013.

Below I paraphrase parts of the lecture (it's long!) that resonate with me and fit well with the themes of this blog:

• Twenty-first century citizenship requires us to do some public good as a private citizen - around the corner, or around the world, in public office, or out. Compose a life where service is important. It is important because the world is so interdependent and full of opportunities.
• The world we are living in is clearly unsustainable. There is too much inequality and too much instability.
• Public service work has four requirements. One, you should be obsessively interested in people, especially people who are different from you. You should want to understand them and understand how they perceive the world and understand what they need and what their dreams are. Two, you should care about principles - about the end of all this. What is the purpose of service? What's the role of government, what are the roles of the NGOs, how do you organize this in your mind, why are you doing this? Three, what are the policies that you believe will advance these purposes? And four, what are the politics of the situations? How are you going to turn your good intentions into real changes? People, purpose, policies, and politics. To me, the most important thing is the first.
• This might be my favorite quote of this lecture. I am deeply motivated by people and purpose and these words substantiate my passion for serving people in the realm of urban design. And of course the policies and politics are also important when it comes to planning cities.  
• Most people get in real trouble and abuse power when they forget that the purpose of their power is not to impose their will on others but to let other people be empowered to live their own lives better, or as I always say, to have better stories.
• Don't belittle people who know less than you do or have less than you do... what we have in common in our soul is important.
• Americans are not hearing enough stories from other people, from people are are different from themselves. And it's a big mistake... We have one remaining bigotry in America: we just don't want to be around anybody that disagrees with us. People are organizing massive living patterns in this country around being with somebody that agrees with them.
• The purpose of service is to help other people. Not to make you feel good about yourself, although you will. Not to impose everything you think should be done on other people. But to create a world where we can all live together, because it’s so interdependent. If we don’t, the consequences to us, to our families, to our future will be adverse and severe.
• Every place in the world where they’re trying to cooperate, they’re doing pretty well. Every place in the world that elevate our differences over our common humanity. Where we can no longer hear what people who are different from us are saying, where our ears our closed and minds are more closed – there is trouble. 
• I believe that it’s very important that every person in your generation have a worldview. We need a common understanding of what is the nature of the modern world. What are it’s biggest challenges, opportunities. What evidence do we have about how best we can deal with them.

A Bicycle Culture: The Facts

1. The bicycle is the most efficient mode of transportation

Not only is a bicycle the most efficient mode of transportation, but biking can also be the most convenient and safest ways to a destination. This is very dependent on the local biking infrastructure and policies (to be continued...).

2. For mental health, biking or walking to work is psychologically better for you

According to a study by a group of health economists in the UK, active commuting (biking and/or walking) contributes to improved well being, better concentration at work, and less stress.

Psychological health: for the purposes of this study, the research team looked at aspects including feelings of worthlessness, unhappiness, sleepless nights, and being unable to face problems. Factors such as income, children, moving house or job, and relationship changes were also factors. 

Commute time is also important: "our study shows that the longer people spend commuting in cars, the worse their psychological well being. And correspondingly, people feel better when they have a longer walk to work." 

This information has recently been covered by BBC. 

 3. Biking is great for your body and health

Okay, this one is obvious, but "being and staying healthy" and "public health" are hot topics these days! How can we improve our physical health (along with mental health)? Simple: hop on a bike

What so many people don't realize is that, say you live relatively close to work and you commute to work by bike a few times a week. Forget going to the gym or feeling the need to work out -- you've got your daily or weekly exercise out of the way, without making it an extra chore. Seamlessly improving personal health.

In fact, Women's Health states that "half of American workers live within five miles of their workplace, according to the most recent National Household Transportation Survey. That's a totally doable 20-minute ride each way. If you live close to your office, you can pedal to work twice a week and burn up to 3,000 extra calories—close to one pound of fat—each month."

If you live close to work and are able to, try out the bike commute and see how you like it. You're going to have to get to work one way or another, you might as well burn calories while you do it! 

4. Commuting by bike is great for your wallet

Forbes notes that in the U.S. bicyclists can save "at least $4.6 billion a year by riding instead of driving."

A car comes with expenses like gas, maintenance, oil, and insurance. Not to mention that it's not an investment in the slightest: the value of a vehicle drops significantly the second you drive it off the lot. A bike has the initial cost of a couple hundred dollars, but after that, the maintenance and equipment costs are so minimal compared to that of a car. Plus you can usually always get front row parking with a bike.

5. Biking reduces traffic congestion and air pollution in cities 

Who doesn't want to breathe cleaner and healthier air, and reduce travel time in cars? Enough said. 

6. The Dutch lead the way for biking and walking, followed by Denmark and Germany - the U.S. has work to do

Copenhagen winter, image via Copenhagenize

And it's not like these 3 top countries have extraordinarily great weather year-round, either...

I am lucky to have lived (and be a current resident) in 2 of the 3 top countries for biking! I love to bike and walk, so it works out great for me.

Sources and more:
Reasons to Ride 
Exploratorium 
Rutgers.edu 
Rudi.net 
Copenhagenize 
Women's Health 
Science Daily 
Share the Road 
Mint.com 
Forbes 
Psych Central 
Science Daily 
Biking: A proven stress reliever
Forbes - The Costs and Savings of Bicycle Commuting 
How Much Money Can I Save Biking to Work?

Urban Growth and Development in Copenhagen

In an outing with a local guy (my Danish host dad!) I hit a couple pockets of Copenhagen that are the focus of the most recent developments to the city. Nothing beats local knowledge!

In most cases a photograph cannot capture what we are able to take in and observe with our eyes and other senses. But pictures are better than nothing, and will help do a lot of the talking. Before bringing you on an adventure with my own photos, take a look at the following slides that give a general overview of way the City of Copenhagen is managing its growth and development. The two areas of development I explored are identified on the second slide - Ørestad and Eastern Amager.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Click on image to enlarge

The Metro - serves as the subway system as you get closer to the downtown area.

High density along a transit line

A place to hang out by the water

More green than gravel

Elevated Metro, street for cars, walkway for peds, and water flow seamlessly together

The thick line of trees through the middle of the picture depicts the junction of old and new.

The older mostly single-family housing is separated by the newer, high density and diverse housing, by a bike and pedestrian-only pathway along a small stream.

Another view of the water-ped-bike-way.

Who needs a car garage when you have a bike garage?

The apartment building to the left was designed by Danish architecture group BIG - see Nov. 3 post.

The building even has a name - "Mountain Dwellings"

No mountains in flat Copenhagen? Okay, we'll build one.

"Nothing is not a process" -Shannon Judd

The next series of pictures features "8 House" - a mixed use building shaped like an eight.

Similar to the "Mountain Dwelling" building, the figure building also starts from high points at the "top" and "middle" of the large 8, and then angles downward from there. The 8 is positioned for views, sunlight and fresh air.

Green roof on one of the sides coming down. In this picture I'm standing at the "bottom" of the 8.

Layers of grass in one of the 2 courtyards.

I notice details like this: a convex line of bricks leading to a drain. Since the walkway here is uneven, I imagine it may get slippery when wet; a drainage path moves water more efficiently. Smart.

No need to drive your kids to kindergarten when you can drop them off at the one downstairs!

The full courtyard near the ground level

From above

The second courtyard gives a different experience

Each unit has an outdoor area

View from the top looking south to the parkland

The preferred mode of transportation for many Copenhageners

More living spaces to the west

And east

Eastern Amager - New apartment building

360 degree wrap-around porch (each floor is split into 2 residences)

Bike park - believe the bikes will come with the residents

View from the top

There are 2 additional things to point out about the "Mountain Dwelling" apartment building that I did not capture great photos of: 2 of the 4 facades of the building actually resemble a mountain - a giant mural of the Himalayan peaks, Mount Everest among them. And second, underneath the 80 penthouses (yes, each residence is technically a penthouse), there is room for 480 cars. But one would never suspect that the building was also designed as a car park - space-saving shelter for cars without the eye-sore! More photos and info here.

More about 8 House

Ørestad Website - "Invest in Copenhagen's New Neighborhood"


Source:
City of Copenhagen, World Bank