Creating Better Cities-1.pdf

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Global Compact report 2014

— Gehl Architects

CreatingBetter Cities

Global CompactReport


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Contents

1 The 10 principles

2 Statement of Continued Support6 Gehl Architects Overview10 Gehl Highlighted Projects18 Gehl Actions

Global Compact OverviewLaunched in July 2000, the United Nations(UN) Global Compact is both a policyplatform and a practical frameworkfor companies that are committed tosustainability and responsible businesspractices. The UN Global Compact askscompanies to embrace, support and enact,within their sphere of influence, a set ofcore values in the areas of human rights,labour standards, the environment and anti-

corruption. An integral part of the UN GlobalCompact commitment are the individualmembers Communication on Progress (COP).

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— Gehl Architects

The 10 PrinciplesHuman RightsPrinciple 1: Businessesshould support and respect theprotection of internationallyproclaimed human rights; andPrinciple 2: Make sure that theyare not complicit in human rightsabuses.

LabourPrinciple 3: Businesses shoulduphold the freedom of associationand the effective recognition ofthe right to collective bargaining;Principle 4: the elimination of allforms of forced and compulsorylabour;Principle 5: the effective abolitionof child labour;

Principle 6: the eliminationof discrimination in respect ofemployment and occupation.

EnvironmentPrinciple 7: Businesses shouldsupport a precautionary approachto environmental challenges;Principle 8: undertake initiativesto promote greater environmentalresponsibility; andPrinciple 9: encourage the

development and diffusionof environmentally friendlytechnologies.

Anti-corruptionPrinciple 10: Businesses shouldwork against corruption in all itsforms, including extortion andbribery.

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This past year we have been engaged inurban development projects addressingdifferent aspects and challenges of globalurbanization – from rapid urbanization, to

the massive expansion of private vehiclesand thereby unbalanced mobility, to marketpressures associated with the renewal ofthe historic fabric of cities, and the decreaseof quality of life in the existing urban cores ofcities.

All of these challenges are not dependenton geography or place but are issues that

Statement ofContinued Support

Gehl Architects joined

the United Nations GlobalCompact in 2008 and wecontinue to support theinitiative. Our vision is tocreate better cities. We aspireto create cities that are lively,healthy, attractive, sustainable

and safe — and therebyimprove people’s qualityof life.

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— Gehl Architects

are growing and which cites share globally.However, all cities also share the key to

unlocking these challenges through clearand visionary leadership. The clients andcollaborators that we work with all have theambition to be visionary leaders, and theywork with us because they share our valuesand aim of building “cities for people”,and because they know that we can assistthem in their process of developing clearstrategies and ensuring the implementationof new ideas and priorities.

Throughout the past year we have continuedto support and collaborate with the EnergyFoundation and their Sustainable Citiesprogram, which focuses on Chinese cities.We have engaged in panel discussions ondeveloping new sustainable guidelines forChinese urbanization and have been workingwith local planners and architects usingour “public space public life methods” inShanghai. These methods focus on people

centered data and quality of space and resultin strategies to improve urban quality, publicspace networks and quality of life withinurban communities.

In collaboration with the Inter-AmericanDevelopment Bank (IADB), Gehl Architectshave expanded a city program, for 3 cities,throughout the past year. The aim is to

engage with the local planning authoritiesand to improve the quality of public spaces

in the existing urban cores of Mar del Platain Argentina, Cali in Colombia and Xalapain Mexico. In these cities, pilot projects andtemporary interventions illustrate solutionson how public spaces can be improvedand bicycle infrastructure implemented.Testing the results prior to implementationis a powerful solution to complex problemswhere “space” has become a scarceresource.

IADB continues to grow as a partner. We arefocused on building knowledge with them,related to the Gehl Methodology, for theirstaff as well as that of their partner cities inLatin and South America.

Our team has also been engaged in acollaborative process which involvesworking directly for the City of São Pauloon reimagining how key public spaces in

the historic part of the city can once againbe lively, safe and attractive to peoplerelated activities. More than 100 peoplewere engaged in this process, throughdialogue, workshops and analysis, including4 downtown universities. Discussions on whohas the right to public spaces in a relativelynew democracy such as Brazil is somethingwhich is relevant to everyone who engages in

Global Compact report 2014— Gehl Architects

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urban issues and dreams of a future wherecities such as São Paulo can better balance

the needs of the individual, as well as qualityof life for urban communities with economicgrowth of this important region.

The final couple of projects that I would liketo highlight are located on the Europeancontinent – a comprehensive strategy forMoscow’s city center and a developmentframework for the former railway yards ofLille in France.

The Copenhagen based Gehl Architects teamhas worked directly for the City of Moscow toimprove the traffic balance of the inner city.In a sense it is a classic challenge related toparked cars dominating streets, sidewalksand squares, but also a great opportunity toimprove the sense of orientation, quality ofriverbanks and to celebrate the grandness ofthe city’s architecture. It is impressive to seehow fast the urban government is already

acting towards implementing the strategiesin order to improve the environment, space,air quality and to celebrate the identity ofthis great city. Our hope is that these resultscan impact not only Moscow but also othergreat cities.

The final project to be mentioned thisyear is located in Lille, France, where

Gehl Architects was the winner of aninternational competition for a former

railway yard. Many cities face the challengesof increasing density and the typical largescale commercial form and stereotypeof programming towards mega blocks,large offices and a limited mix of uses. Asa contrast to the Euro Lille development,around the international station nodeconnecting Lille to Paris, as well as London,the Gehl Development Framework ensuresa human scale block typology and heritageof existing rail structures as an important

element of identity. Rather than designinga new isolated urban district, we aspire todesign a piece of city – integrated, compact,and lively in a human scale.

On a global scale, increasingly cities areseeing the value of a different approach, andafter 14 years of Gehl Architects’ practice wefeel the general global approach to planningis slowly changing from a modernistic and

functional view of cities to a more holisticapproach, also offering a role for softersocial, as well as cultural areas of planning.

All ten principles of the United NationsGlobal Compact are played out in the publicrealm and in the city and all ten principlescan be supported by a sustained focus onmaking the public realm open, accessible,

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— Gehl Architects

democratic and a place of quality for allpeople.

We aspire to address all the issues that havea foundation in the United Nations GlobalCompact initiative in all of the projects wedevelop around the world but also throughour communication effort in books and films,our capacity building as well as in the officeamongst ourselves.

The core United Nations Global Compactinitiative is at the heart of our work; for

more than a decade now, Gehl Architectshave not only maintained but strengthened

our effort to improve the world’s cities andmake them places of quality for all people.

Hence it is with great pride that we expressour continued support to the United NationsGlobal Compact initiative.

Helle SøholtFounding Partner and CEO

Gehl Architects


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Life

Form

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The practiceGehl Architects is an urban research and

design consultancy offering expertise in thefields of architecture, urban design, and cityplanning. We address global trends with apeople-focused approach, utilizing empiricalanalysis to understand how the builtenvironment can promote humanflourishing. We apply this analysisto strategic planning and human-centered design to empower citizens,decision makers, company leaders, andorganizations.

Our work is based on the human dimension– the built environment’s effect on socialinteraction between people. We considerlively and widely used public space areasto be important keys to quality in cities andto overall wellbeing. Public spaces canalso assist in making healthier choices, aneasier choice by allowing people to integratephysical activity into their everyday routines

by walking, biking or taking transit.

Strategic planning forand with peopleWe take a holistic view to strategic planning,mediating between typical silos of disciplinesto ensure that urban interventions are rootedin a comprehensive understanding of howthe specific urban space is used.

Regardless of the complexity of a project,our process always begins with people.

We measure how the city is performing forpeople to provide guidance for planning,empowerment and design. Our vision isto create resilient places that are livabletoday and sustainable tomorrow. Our clientsshare a common long-term commitmentto holistically yet incrementally respond topeople’s needs to improve the environmentin which people live.

Our method and design approach

The study of people’s well-being lays thefoundation for our strategic planning anddesign. We begin with: first life – thenspace – and finally buildings. Our designsolutions begin with formulating a visionand a comprehensive program of activitiesbased on the type of life – its activities andattractions – that are inherent in a givenarea. The next step is to develop a publicspace network that can support the public

life through scale, form and climate. Finallywe envision how buildings can contributeto our aspirations for public life in terms ofheight, massing and scale as well as theirfunctions and interaction with the publicrealm.

We focus on therelationship between thebuilt environment andpeople’s quality of life.

Gehl ArchitectsOverview

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— Gehl Architects

Gehl teamOur multi-disciplinary team of 46 people

include architects, urban designers,landscape architects, graphic designers,sociologists, anthropologists and culturaltheorists, who are based betweenCopenhagen, San Francisco and NYC.Additionally, Gehl Architects employseveral Senior Consultants, all of theminternationally recognized expertswithin their field. To promote a betterunderstanding across cultures, our teamhas a wide variety of national and ethnicbackgrounds, and the gender distributionis aimed at being a fair representation ofsociety in general.

Collaborating with clients and partnersaround the world, our team works to tailorand contextualize design, planning andresearch that builds upon the foundation

established during the many years ofresearch by Jan Gehl. The Gehl team is

actively engaging in dialogue around theworld to apply 45 years of urban designresearch, co-creatively with our clients totailor services that are specific to context,scale and purpose. We work with a widevariety of clients, ranging from mayorsof world capitals and large mixed-useproperty developers to non-governmentalorganizations, community groups,foundations, universities and housingassociations.

Learn more about ‘our approach’on our website

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/Gehl Highlighted

Projects/

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— Gehl Architects

2013 and ongoingClient: São Paulo Urbanismo, City of São Paulo

Due to the enormous growthduring the last decades, SãoPaulo now belongs amongthe most populous cities inthe world. Most of this growthhas, however, taken place in

the suburban regions, andthe population in the innercity has decreased in recentyears.

The city centre, which used to be an area fullof life, is not a very welcoming place today,characterised by exploding traffic, empty

buildings, discount outlets and parkinglots. The deserted city centre is a symbol ofunequal development where high propertyprices have pushed many people out to theperiphery, and the area also struggles – asmany other big cities in the region – withissues of crime and safety.

By reinvigorating life into the city centre,Gehl Architects’ project in São Paulo will

help address these two important issues ofcrime and safety. By improving access andmaking it possible for different activities tounfold in a number of public spaces such asAnhangabaú Square, the project will helpthe city to once again become a welcomingplace to spend time – regardless of income,and the expected increase in the city life willeventually help increase people’s sense ofsecurity. Four selected public spaces will actas pilot projects for a longer term strategyfor the city centre. These include Avenida SãoJoão, Rua 25 de Março, Pateo do Collegio& Rua Roberto Simonsen, and Largo SãoFrancisco & Praca Outvidor Pacheco e Silva.

The project also helps to build a moreaccountable planning process in Brazil’smajor city. Gehl Architects has conducted aseries of workshops with city agencies, localuniversities and a whole series of NGO’s and

community representatives. In April 2003everyone – from the head of city planning tothe local mayor’s office – joined in dilaogueto identify the problems and potential oftheir city.

Read more on our website

A New Heart forSão Paulo

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— Gehl Architects

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2011 to 2013Client: GenPlan, City Planning Department,City of Moscow

Over the years Moscow hasdeveloped into a city whichfocuses mainly on providingan efficient transportsystem, and to a large extentforgetting about the peoplethat inhabit, move and spendtime in the city.

As a result the city has exploded with trafficin a way that puts pedestrians at risk andlimits the possibilities of enjoying the manyassets that the city has to offer.

Gehl Architects has conducted a PublicSpace, Public Life survey, which documents,analyzes the challenges related to car trafficand highlights the possibilities of building anew urban culture in Moscow which focuseson urban quality of life.

A key element in the strategy has been tooffer the people of Moscow more choice

in how they move around their city, e.g. bymaking the streets easier to navigate and

walk around.Some of the recommendations havealready been implemented, actions such asenforcing parking bans along sidewalks andthe removal of visual clutter of signs andbillboards, but more importantly the projecthas started a conversation about the city,what qualities it should offer and how peoplecould possibly use it in new ways.

The public spaces of Moscow are oftenformal squares centered around monumentsrather than the people who spend timethere. A number of strategies that we haveproposed involve ideas of how to transformthe public spaces in Moscow into placeswhere people can express themselves indifferent ways, such as establishing a riverpark.

The City is waking up to the needs of itspeople, and has already turned Gorky Parkinto a thriving public space with sportsfacilities, cafés, gardens and outdoortribunes. Every day thousands of peoplegather at this formerly derelict amusementpark, proving that Moscow’s citizens areinterested and eager to spend time in publicspaces.

MoscowTowards a Great Cityfor People

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Tverskaya before (above) and after (beneath)

Gorky Park is just one example. Many otherexamples can follow and the impact of the

project cannot as of yet be determined butit has marked the beginning of a process ofimagining – both for planners and citizensin Moscow. In the fall of 2013 our report‘Moscow: Towards a Great City for People’was made into a street exhibition in the city

center, sharing Gehl Architects’ findings,ideas and visions with the people of Moscow

– bringing them on board in a process ofchange for the future where the City ofMoscow is already taking concrete steps tomake change happen.

Read more on our website

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2009 to 2013Client: City of Gothenburg

Like many other citiesaround the world Gothenburghas been and still is in theprocess of transformationfrom a heavy industrial cityto a postmodern city.

One of the major tasks in recent yearshas been the redevelopment of the innerharbor area. The challenge lies in how sucha big and strategically important place inthe city can be transformed in a way thatcorresponds with the demands of today’ssociety? To meet this challenge, a new wayof conducting planning is needed.

Gehl Architects was hired in as consultantsin late 2009 to help facilitate a processwhich would both help to establish a morecross-disciplinary and integrated approachamong the city staff as well as securingpolitical ownership and public involvement.Instead of developing the big harbor area ina piece by piece way, a new approach wasdeveloped that looked at the area as a whole

and thoroughly understood the preconditionsfor the development. This included three

preparation workshops focusing on:

—New planning tools such as newpartnership models, steering tools,public involvement, etc.

—Understanding the challenges relatedto climate and environment

—Issues of social integration

Based on these workshops, 10 internationalteams were invited to Gothenburg towork together for 5 days with the City ofGothenburg to produce strategies, conceptsand ideas for the development. Ratherthan competing, the teams were meant tocomplement each other in order to producethe most integrated vision and strategy.This principle was later repeated in thedevelopment of a more specific site, where

each team was responsible for specificteams such as climate/water, parks/publicspaces, programming of functions anddensification and economic drivers – in theend delivering an integrated plan.Once the vision for the whole harbor areawas approved by the local politicians,an intensive public consultation processfollowed including new online forum, a

GothenburgRivercity

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— Gehl Architects

public exhibition and a local secretariat thatcould be present in the area that was to bedeveloped. In the end 9-10.000 people wereinvolved over a period of 2-3 months.The impact of the project has been to

introduce and slowly build a new planningculture in Gothenburg in terms of new waysof collaborating and new ways of processmanagement, which is needed to securemore responsive planning.

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/Gehl Actions

/

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Partnership with UN HabitatGehl has formalized a strategic partnershipwith UN Habitat. The aims are to strengthen

and expand the knowledge about good urbandesign in terms of building sustainablecities in the developing world as well as todevelop local capacity for developing andimplementing good urban design practicesand public space design and management. Partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)PwC and Gehl are currently collaboratingto understand how the region of Møre

Romsdal can be strengthened by three keycities – Ålesund, Molde and Kristiansund– becoming the catalysts which drivesthe region. PwC is leading the charge inunderstanding the social capabilities ofthese cities while Gehl is analyzing the urbancapitol.

Partnerships with universitiesIn order to maintain a strong link to researchand new knowledge within the field of urban

design and architecture we have continuedto expand our relationship with varyinginternational universities. Over the courseof the year, numerous interns have joinedour work environment. This collaborativerelationship enables us to pass on ourown experience and knowledge to futureplanners, architects and others workingor just beginning to look for work withinurban development. In addition, it is ouraim to grow research related projects within

Gehl Institute where the research coreis split between Gehl and the partneringuniversity. At this time, we have establishedpartnerships with universities both inEurope, Denmark and in the US, includingITU, DTU and CBS in Denmark, SeattleUniversity in the US, Bauhaus in Germany,among others.

Engage inPartnerships

In recognition of the complexity facing cities today – thus also

the complexity of solutions needed – Gehl has in recent yearsengaged in various partnerships with relevant partners withwhom we can work towards building and developing cities forhuman flourishing on a global scale.

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Advocacy throughLeadership

An important part of our

work involves giving talks in avariety of international citiesaround the world. This form ofengagement provides us theopportunity to put ‘the livablecity’ on the agenda and todiscuss with leaders the act

of promoting and developingcities with a human focus.

In the past year we have talked at eventssuch as the International Transport Forum,

and World Urban Forum, among others.Taking leadership in the field of urban

planning also involves influencing change atthe policy level. Inspired by the work of JanGehl, the new National Architecture Policy inDenmark is entitled ‘Mennesker i Centrum’(Putting People First).

We also prioritize our involvement in thinkthanks as a means to be strong advocatesfor ‘cities for people’. In the past year CEOHelle Søholt has been a member of theDanish think thank ‘Byen 2025’ initiated by

the Ministry of Housing, Urban and RuralAffairs. The result of this work is a visionarydocument focusing on how to maintain anddevelop strong urban communities in atime, when cities are becoming increasinglysegregated.

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— Gehl ArchitectsEngage Globally,Act Locally

While engaging in global

discussions about howcities develop, it is equallyimportant to anchor our workin concrete local situations.

This requires a profound understandingof local conditions both in terms of localchallenges to be dealt with as well as unique

opportunities for development. In the pastyear we have taken various actions to havea stronger local presence in the variouscontexts where we work.

In 2013 we started up a project in theseaside town of Mar del Plata in Argentina.The project was organized in such a waythat the Project Manager was posted inMar del Plata for 3 months. The aim ofthis was to allow for a very strong capacitybuilding component, where local planningstaff were trained in methods to secure apeople-focused design, and it also gave usthe opportunity to develop better informedsolutions based on local insights anddiscussions.

In addition, at the start of 2014 we openedtwo Gehl Studios in the US, based in SanFrancisco and New York, which have allowedus to be closer to our US and Latin Americanclients and collaborators and to follow ourprojects more closely and take stronger localactions.

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EnhancingAccountability

As consultants we are concerned with how to secure long

lasting change. An aspect of this is to understand the effectof our work and learn from it. We therefore strive to establishlong lasting relationships with our clients which allow forthis process of securing accountability. A concrete exampleof this includes:

The Pilot Projectapproach

In recent years wehave introducedthe idea of pilotprojects – a

quick way to test,measure and refine

urban design ideas.This approach is now

becoming an increasinglystrategic initiative as it allows for direct

dialogue with different stakeholders abouttheir needs and aspirations.

In San Francisco the pilot initiative is namedLIZ – Living Innovation Zones – and it hasbeen developed in partnership betweenSan Francisco’s Planning Department, theMayor’s Office of Civic Innovation(MOCI). Ina way, LIZ is as an evolution of the concept

for San Francisco’s Park-Let program whichover the years has become an increasinglyformalized part of San Francisco’s strategyfor the development of quality in the ‘publicspace’. By initiating the LIZ program the cityis attempting to take the Park-Let concept toa new level.

In practice 10 sites were identified alongthe main street Market Street to become“Bureaucracy Free” zones where thesometimes slow and frustrating processes

associated with developing projects in publicspaces, are being lifted and streamlined tocreate greater incentives for private sectororganizations to invest in urban projects.As it is the case with Park-Lets, the privateparty finances, maintains and operates theprojects and must also remove and cleanup afterwards. In return, the LIZ operatorshave control over a piece of real estate on

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— Gehl Architects

the sidewalk on San Francisco’s busiest andmost visited street. In return all initiativesmust contribute to a set of success criteria:

—Enhance Public Space – as placesto meet, socialize and safely andcomfortably spend time.

—Strengthen Economic Development –understanding that people spaces aregood for business

—Encourage Innovation andExperimentation – in everydaysituations

—Learn and Share – public spaces toadapt to the latest innovation, trendsand needs of our society.

Learn more about this initiativeon our website

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One of our core services is the Public Space Public Life

Surveys – surveys that evaluate the quality of citiesfrom a people focus and formulate recommendations forimprovement. These surveys have been repeated ina number of cities all over the world as a way ofdocumenting change.

In addition to the PSPL we have in thepast year started to develop other ways

of measuring the effect of public spaceimprovements. One such example is acurrent project ‘World Class Streets 2.0’in NY. This project follows up on our workrelated to ‘World Class Streets’ from 2007where a number of public spaces acrossthe wider city region were selected for re-purposing, this time researching how thepublic space projects can foster quality oflife and impact equitable growth patterns incities.

The impacts from the first World ClassStreets study have begun to be measured bythe City, primarily with a focus on citywideeconomic impact from sites in centralbusiness districts, such as Herald and UnionSquares. What has not been measured yetis how communities became empowered

to reclaim space in their neighborhoodsand how reclaiming streets impacts these

local neighborhoods and improves qualityof life for all citizens, not just the businesscommunity. The project seeks to developindicators to investigate the equity impactby gaining knowledge about how localcommunities became engaged aroundtransport and public space projects; and ifthey did do so to address social, economic,health and equity problems.

Learn more about this initiative

on our website

Measuringthe Effect

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— Gehl Architects

Community Districts with Plaza Projects

Neighborhoods that lack Open Space

NEW YORK

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Creating Better Cities-1.pdf

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