People Cities will inspire anyone who wants to create vibrant, human-scale cities and understand the ideas and work of an architect who has most influenced how we should and can design cities for people. It is organised around the creation of that movement, using key periods in Jan's working life as a structure. Authors Matan and Newman celebrate Jan's role in changing the urban planning paradigm from an abstract, ideological modernism to a people-focused movement. People Cities discusses the work, theory, life, and influence of Jan Gehl from the perspective of those who have worked with him across the globe. While much has been written by Jan Gehl about his approach and by others about his influence, this book tells the inside story of how he learned to Study urban spaces and implement his people-centred approach. For more than forty years Jan Gehl has helped to transform urban environments around the world based on his research into the ways people actually use-or. His work has influenced public space improvements in over 50 global cities, including New York, London, Moscow, Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, and the authors' hometown of Perth. With the help of Jan Gehl, we can all become advocates for human scale design. At a time when growing numbers are populating cities, planning urban spaces to be humane, safe, and open to 'all' is ever-more critical. Over-the last 50 years, Gehl has changed the way that we think about architecture and city planning, moving from the Modernist separation of uses to a human-scale approach inviting people to use their cities. He believes that good architecture is not about form, but about the interaction between-form and life. 'A good city is like a good-party, you stay for longer than you plan', says Danish architect Jan Gehl.

Authors: Annie Matan and Peter Newman Publisher: Island Press ISBN: 9781610917148 Editor: Jan Gehl Format: Hard cover, 280 pp, 273x210mm

Cities for People by Jan Gehl