The 8th CeMM S.M.A.R.T. Lecture held by architect and urban design consultant Jan Gehl was exceptionally entertaining and inspiring. It illustrated with many captivating examples the problems cities developed in the 20th century by pursuing an object- instead of a people-centered city planning and how simple measures can make cities livable.

“We knew more about the natural habitat of the mountain gorilla or the Siberian tiger than about the Homo sapiens’ living space” – with this provoking citations, Jan Gehl displayed the vast lack of knowledge that lead to some of the 20th centuries biggest challenges for modern cities. By building in an objects- and road-focused manner, a typical approach for the era of modernism and “motorism” in architecture, urban planners forgot about creating livable spaces for people. Instead, huge buildings and vast roads were built for cars, a now outdated and inefficient transportation technology, as Jan Gehl pointed out.

In consequence, many modern cities today are not only ugly and unpleasant to live in, but also unhealthy. The emphasis on mobility, meaning the use of automobiles, lead to the so-called “sitting syndrome”, a lack of physical exercise that has become a mayor health threat. To counteract those developments, Jan Gehl pioneered an observation-based city planning by systematically documenting urban spaces, making gradual incremental improvements, then documenting them again.

His results are impressive: measures like banning cars from city centers, creating extensive and coherent biking lanes and designing nice and “sticky” places that people like to use, turned Copenhagen, where Jan Gehl was involved in the urban planning for over 40 years, from a car-dominated city into one of the most livable places in the world. Many other cities, including New York and Moscow, sought advice from Jan Gehl and improved their urban space with his help. 

A crowded seminar hall at CeMM with an audience of somewhat 150 people with all kinds of backgrounds followed this S.M.A.R.T. Lecture eagerly and engaged in lively discussions afterwards. Artist, architects, city planners and scientists met Jan Gehl in the brain lounge for an intense discussion round. We are proud, honored, and most thankful that Jan Gehl followed our invitation, and supports our efforts to foster the interdisciplinary discourse, widen our horizons and establish a dialogue with the broader public. The quality of our research is strongly influenced by the quality of our environment and creativity flourishes in inclusive, integrative and livable cities.

His take home message will remain firmly etched into our memories: The world is not about getting from A to B, the world is about having nice places to be!