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We’re Using Our Streets All Wrong

Topic

Life between buildings

Date

15.01.2022

Times Square, New York. Credit: Gehl.

Times Square, one of the world’s most iconic intersections, was originally designed primarily for cars, not people, despite 90% of its users being pedestrians.

In 2001, Gehl Architects was commissioned to help reimagine the area to be more pedestrian-friendly. Our team introduced temporary interventions, like painting bike lanes and adding planters and seating, transforming the space into a people-centered hub. These experiments revealed a simple truth: when public spaces are reclaimed for people, urban life flourishes.

The shift from car-dominated streets to pedestrian-friendly spaces is seen in initiatives like Park(ing) Day, where communities actively shape public spaces as a platform for their everyday needs and desires.

Watch on YouTube ‘We’re using our streets all wrong’ by Freethink, featuring Blaine Merker, Team Director US Enterprise & Corporations, Head of Climate, and Partner and Ewa Westermark, former Senior Project Director, Gehl Methodology Lead, and Partner.

Summit Lake Neighborhood Farmers’ Market in Akron, Ohio. Credit: Knight Foundation

Life between buildings

Maintaining Our Public Spaces to Maintain Our Democracy

When Alexa Bush started a collaborative park design process in the Fitzgerald neighborhood, Detroit was in transition.

The bicycle ‘Snake Bridge’ in Copenhagen designed by DISSING+WEITLING. Credit: Rasmus Hjortshøj, Coast Studio

Movement

Andreas Røhl on All Things Mobility

Moving people efficiently from A to B has always been one of the greatest challenges facing cities.

Planetary health

The Key to Solving Emissions Is Close to Home

Cities are home to more than half the world’s population — and responsible for around 70% of global carbon emissions. But even as the world keeps urbanizing, our consumption of space keeps increasing.

Paseo Park, New York City. Credit: Gehl.

City making

Pedestrian-Friendly Streets: How Human-Centered Urban Design Boosts Communities and Local Economies

During and after the pandemic, open streets rightfully garnered more attention as a legitimate and permanent public space offer. Here, Julia Day reflects on their benefits.

Credit: Mike Stezycki

City making

Building Inclusive Urban Spaces: Engaging Youth in the Planning Process

Jeff Risom reflect on how an honest conversation with a group of teenagers in South London has opened his eyes to a new dilemma: the ‘agefication’ of our cities.

Soft blobular shapes from our ‘What We Cherish’ mini-site. Credit: Gehl

Technology

Soft Tech, Human Values: How Gehl is Reimagining AI in Urban Planning

Embracing softness and human empathy in the age of AI innovation.

An illustrated vision: By supporting cutting-edge climate research and ever-evolving sustainable building approaches, the facilities at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability will help the university promote an Earth where humans and nature thrive. Credit: Gehl

Life between buildings

Workplace Design and the Future of Work

The rise and fall of urban offices puts into question our relationship with work, home, and city life. Here, Gehl’s Brett Merriam spells out how a new approach to workplace design can revive our urban centers.

Photo by Gehl.

Life between buildings

How to Build Neighborhoods We Actually Like

The design of neighborhoods can often leave people feeling isolated and disconnected.

Child friendly hangout in Buenos Aires, Barrio 31. Credit: Buenos Aires City Government.

City making

How is paying attention to social infrastructure the key to an inclusive city?

Team Director Ida Bigum revisits the concept of the inclusive city, emphasizing that social infrastructure can be just as important as the types of homes we build when it comes to fostering social mixing.

People on San Francisco’s Great Highway which has been closed to cars as part of San Francisco’s Slow Streets program. Credit: Gehl.

Movement

5 Key Points to Seeding Mobility Culture Change

The best thing micromobility advocates can do for safety is to get more people riding bikes and scooters on the street.