“It is vital to take space away from cars and give it to bicycles”: Keynote speech by Jan Gehl
- “First of all, politicians need to be capable of imagining the city we want for our children and grandchildren”.
- In 2009, Copenhagen was the first city to state its wish to become the best city for people.
- In 2015, 37-45 % of people in New York City cycled to work, which reduced car traffic.
Mexico City, December 7, 2016.- Laureate architect, Danish Jan Gehl, an expert in sustainable urban planning for large cities such as New York or Sao Paolo, was the keynote speaker on the second day of CoRe ForoUrbano CDMX 2016.
Gehl began by mentioning some noteworthy data: in 2009, Copenhagen was the first city to state its wish to become the best city for people. Gehl highlighted that, before anything else, it is important for politicians and architects to picture what city they want for our children and grandchildren. Therefore, it is important to stress that public policies need to be focused on people and not in technology. “This is the best way to form cities”, he said.
He also mentioned that automobiles have dulled our senses, such as smell, sight and taking in the things around us. For him, a confusion of scale is a very serious matter and has caused cities to grow at rates that mean they can only be travelled by car: “One can enjoy a city more by walking 5km rather than staying inside a car for 60km”, he explained, adding that “the new planning paradigm tries to create inhabitable cities which invite us to live a healthy life, that is, to focus on our health instead of focusing on technological maintenance”.
The quality of big cities can be improved. A good example is Copenhagen, which has spent the past 50 years taking care of its inhabitants. Since 1962, it has focused on improving the conditions for citizens. Streets that back then had high traffic flows are not reserved for pedestrians and cyclists. But this transformation was not immediate. Copenhagen had to undergo four stages, from reducing the dependency on cars to making bicycles popular:
- 1980, first stage: car lanes were closed and rebuilt as pedestrian-only.
- 1980-2000, second stage: parking lots were eliminated, and substituted by public spaces for gatherings, such as cafés and bars.
- 2000-2009, third stage: the city was promoted as a recreation space: “While reinventing healthier cities, it is important to promote a lifestyle in which biking is more fun than being locked in a car and fighting traffic”, he said.
- 2009, fourth stage: establishing cycle lanes as having preference over car lanes, more spaces for pedestrians and a comprehensive strengthening of public transportation. For example, trains now have enough space to transport users’ bicycles.
Gehl mentioned that these stages were systematically recorded by the School of Architecture in Denmark for the information to be used and replicated in other cities. However, Gehl said that “the citizens must take part in the urban design of their cities”.
Today, Copenhagen is considered the most livable city in the world, holding the first global position, followed by Melbourne, Helsinki, Tokyo and Vienna.
Gehl highlighted other success cases; for example, in 2015, between 37-45 % of the people in New York cycled to work, which has reduced car traffic. Another success case is Melbourne, Australia, which has become an example on how to revitalize a city through the implementation of public policies that benefit the people, such as investing in urban furniture which appeals to passers-by.
Gehl finished his keynote speech with an encouraging prospect for Mexico City: “if Tokyo holds the fifth position among the most livable cities, Mexico City has great possibilities”.