This presentation is given on the EFLA regional congress for landscape architecture took place in Estonia, Tallinn, 2-4 November 2011. We thank Jan for highly inspiring presentation and for visiting Estonia. Presentation - Cities for People - is the story told by Jan Gehl in his new book "Cities for People" which goes on to describe why looking after people is crucial for the quality of cities in the 21st century, how it can be accomplished and how it is actually done by now in more and more projects and cities. The transformations carried out in such cities as Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, Amman and New York will serve as examples of this new people-oriented direction in planning. The book Cities for People by Jan Gehl (Island Press 2010) will serve as point of departure for the presentation. Jan Gehl is a practicing Urban Design Consultant and Professor of Urban Design at the School of Architecture in Copenhagen, Denmark. He has extensively researched the form and use of public spaces and put his findings to practice in a variety of locations around the world. He has been awarded the "Sir Patrick Abercrombie Prize for exemplary contributions to Town Planning" by The International Union of Architects as well as an honorary doctors degree from Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. Jan is a Honorary Fellow of The Royal British Institute of Architects , of American Institute of Architects of Royal Architectural Institute of Canada and of Planning Institute of Australia. His company, Gehl Architects — Urban Quality Consultants with works across Europe, North America, Australia, Japan, Singapore and Saudi Arabia; focus strongly on the facilitation of public life in public spaces, often pushing the boundaries beyond common uses of the public realm. To Gehl, design always begins with an analysis of the spaces between buildings. Only after a vision has been established of what type of public life one wants to see flourishing, is attention given to the surrounding buildings and how they can work together to support public spaces. About congress look: http://www.efla2011.com European Federation for Landscape Arcitecture (EFLA) http://europe.iflaonline.org/ Estonian Landscape Architects' Union (ELAU) http://www.maastikuarhitekt.ee

Comments