Jan Gehl

Jan Gehl, architect, professor and consultant on urban design, has focused his career on improving the quality of urban life, by reorienting the design of the city towards the people in the cities: public life, pedestrians, and cyclists.

His books include the by now “classics” “Life between Buildings” and “Cities for People”. Published in more than 40 languages. Major City improvement projects with Gehl Architects include Copenhagen, Melbourne, Sydney, London, New York and Moscow. Jan Gehl together with his architectural firm Gehl Architects have dedicated over a year and a half to the research “Moscow. Towards a great city for people”. The results of this work were presented to the city authorities. This research focuses on transforming Moscow into a comfortable city that would be convenient for all residents. Jan Gehl revealed the city’s problems and how they could be solved. He advised how to develop such important public spaces as streets, parks and embankments. Also, Jan Gehl suggested the development of a public transport system. Jan Gehl believes that with the help of these transformations, people would spend more time outside which in turn would have a positive impact on social development.

Jan Gehl has been awarded honorary Doctor Degrees in Edinburgh, Toronto, Varna and Halifax and is honorary fellow of the Architectural Institutes in Denmark, UK (RIBA), USA, Canada, Scotland, Ireland as well as the Planning Institutes in Australia and Ireland. Russian Award: V.I.Vernadsky Medal for contribution to sustainable development.