Gehl - Making Cities for People

This year, our team at Gehl will be attending NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) Designing Cities Conference in Miami to explore how urban change makers are making cities more equitable, healthy, and sustainable.  If you’re also attending or you happen to be in town, please let our team know as we’d love to meet and catch up with friends. See you soon in Miami from 7-10 May! 

Gehl is thrilled to begin a new partnership with The Bentway in Toronto, alongside Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, to explore how this linear park under the Gardiner Expressway combats loneliness among Toronto residents. We know that well-programmed and designed public spaces have the potential to bring people together and improve urban community well-being. We look forward to expanding our ongoing research into loneliness and the correlation between social connection and the built environment.   Stay tuned for further updates on our project focusing on social connection and social infrastructure.

Loneliness is becoming increasingly prevalent in the U.S. In #NewYork, more than half of the population reports feeling lonely at least some of the time. There are numerous reasons for the rise in loneliness in cities, including technological advancements and demographic shifts. However, loneliness is not a personal choice or individual problem, but rather one rooted in place design, social norms, and systemic injustices. Last Friday, Gehl's Candice Ji and Eamon O'Connor attended NYC DOT's inaugural Equity In Motion Summit and participated in the ‘Reimagining Public Spaces to Create Belonging’ panel alongside Sara Lind, Emily Weidenhof, Kane Jacob, Tom Harris, and Jacob Wessel. The panel discussed the importance of fostering a sense of belonging in public spaces, building trust in local communities, and the significance of stewardship and inclusivity in public spaces. Do you have any other ideas on how we can program and design our public spaces to encourage more social connections? Share your thoughts in the comments! #gehlpeople #equityinmotionsummit #publicspace #socialconnection #loneliness #cities NYC Department of Parks & Recreation #NewYorkCityDepartmentofTransportation Image credits: Joakim Sass Züger and Lars Gemzøe

"When planning our cities, why shouldn't we pay food environments equal attention as say... transport and mobility? I believe the potential impacts on people's quality of life and the public health outcomes are just as significant. We need to push the agenda on planning around food access." Olivia Flynn, Gehl Project Manager. Join us & 500 attendees (and counting!) to question and discover how cities can create more healthy food environments and opportunities for physical activity! Louise Vogel Kielgast Jo Jewell Salome Valencia Jacob Feilberg Schouenborg Daniela Abril Gutierrez Helene Chartier #citiesforpeople #citieschangingdiabetes #healthequity #foodscapes #peopleplaceplanet #softcity

🚧 GROUNDBREAKING NEWS 🚧 Vi er stolte af at være med til det ambitiøse projekt i Billund, Travbyen, hvor der i går blev taget første spadestik. Gehl har udformet helhedsplanen og har bidraget med bylivsstudier, værdiprogram, inddragelse, kvalitetsprogram, og tidlig aktivering af området, samt IDP (Integreret Design Proces). Vi har indledningsvis arbejdet særlig tæt sammen med andel om værdiprogram og inddragelse, og senere med de resterende arkitekter, landskabsarkitekter og rådgivere i IDP'en omkring helhedsplanen. Vi glæder os til det videre arbejde! 🎉 ____________________________ We are so proud to be part of the ambitious project Travbyen, in Billund, Denmark that was truly ground breaking this week! We've developed the masterplan and have contributed with urban life studies, a value program, engagement, a quality program and early activation of the area, as well as IDP (Integrated Design Process). Initially, we worked particularly closely with andel on the value program and engagement, and later with the fantastic consortium of architects, landscape architects and advisers on the detailing of the masterplan throughout the IDP. We look forward to the work from here on in! #citiesforpeople #travbyen #billund #capitalofchildren #playline #publicspace #publiclife #softcity #peopleplaceplanet Rasmus Rune Nielsen Christian Nørgaard Torben Dahl

Our Global Design Team Lead, Esben Neander Kristensen returned to Mumbai earlier this year, joining a growing Urban Land Institute network to talk alternative approaches to urban development - “We’re excited to see the growth and ambition across India. And we see a large potential to further include human-centred design principles, a public life focus, and spaces that cater to people’s needs in the decision-making processes of urban development. We need a cross-disciplinary approach to tackle not just the financial viability of real estate projects, but also ensure that they contribute positively in terms of social outcomes and liveability.” Recap the ULI India Conference 2024 - https://lnkd.in/g3cxwuVD   and listen in to Esben with StudioPOD’s Mansi Sahu, Sarfaraz Momin and Mahesh Waghdhare on 'Building Cities for People' https://lnkd.in/dshc3F3C #citiesforpeople #peopleplaceplanet #softcity #publicspace #publiclife #mumbai #ULI

🎉 The transformation of Sydney's George Street, a project 17 years in the making, wins Australian Urban Design Award! 🎊 “One of our finest achievements,” Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore AO said. “What was once a grimy street, clogged with noisy, polluting buses has been transformed into a tree-lined boulevard with quiet and efficient light rail." In 2010, we embarked on this collaboration with the City of Sydney to transform George Street into today's grand pedestrian boulevard. The award recognises the importance of good design in transforming spaces for communities, while prioritizing sustainability, convenience, health and well-being. We are also thrilled and humbled that the Greenline Project, in collaboration with the City of Melbourne, ASPECT Studios and Taylor Cullity Lethlean, is winner in the category "Leadership, Research & Advocacy". Congratulations to our partners for the outstanding work and collaboration!

Gehl CEO Helle Søholt and Partner A. Ghigo DiTommaso gather round the campfire to talk company legacy, finding the stories through public life data, and an outlook on the future of cities. Listen in! #citiesforpeople #publicspace #publiclife #softcity #peopleplaceplanet Jackson Steger https://lnkd.in/dZM7QcMv

At Gehl, we study people’s lived experience and what it can reveal about public life — during the day as well as during the night. Drawing from years of experience in night-time governance and urban design, Andreina Seijas, associate at Gehl, will be sharing her research on the transformative power of people-centered strategies in creating safer, more inclusive, and sustainable environments after dark. Join her at the Smart City Expo Curitiba on 21 March for the talk 'Shaping the night: How data illuminates the human experience after dark' (Plenária Principal - 11:45 am). #SmartCityExpoCuritiba #SCECWB24 #SmartCityExpo #NightTimeGovernance #NocturnalCities

🎉 Aarhus's #Bassin7 wins Best Urban Regeneration Project at MIPIM!! 🎉 We're so happy to see this project recognised - one that from the get go, placed 'life before buildings' at the heart of it's development plan. Congratulations to SLETH, BIG - Bjarke Ingels Group, Rune Kilden, Bente Lykke Sørensen and their teams #citiesforpeople #publicspace #publiclife #softcity #urbanplanning #peoplefirst #lifebetweenbuildings #lifespacebuildings