Street life
Street life is the everyday activity that happens between buildings: people walking, stopping, talking, selling, playing or simply watching. Jan Gehl divided it into necessary, optional and social activities, and showed that the last two only appear when the space is of good quality.
Jane Jacobs called it the sidewalk ballet: a complex order nobody directs that makes the neighbourhood safe and alive. A shuttered shop, a blank ground floor or a narrow pavement interrupt it. Measuring street life —counting who is there and what they do— is the first step of any public space project.
Videos on this term (2)
- Housing
Naked City by Sharon Zukin: Gentrification and Urban Authenticity
Naked City (2010) by Sharon Zukin shows how the search for authenticity gentrifies New York's neighbourhoods.
Sharon Zukin 2 min read - Urban psychology
Urban Design and Mental Health: Lessons from Whyte and Gehl
Urban mental health depends on how streets, plazas and parks are designed. What William H. Whyte and Jan Gehl…
2 min read
