There's an interesting article by Ken Worpole in the December issue of
Prospect Magazine, which I've just received, about Danish architect Jan Gehl
and his proposals for making London work better for pedestrians. The article
is based around a report Gehl wrote for Transport for London which was
published in June, and which I hadn't noticed at the time.

Here's a bit from Worpole's article:

Based on extensive research into pedestrian activity in and around a number
of key sites in the city, Gehl concluded that: "London has not been designed
with recreation in mind and it is noticeable that there are few children or
elderly people using the streets." In the bar after his lecture [in
Edinburgh] he is rather more forthright with me [Worpole]. "To be honest, I
was shocked. To my mind, London comes only after Moscow in the contempt the
city planners show for pedestrians. You never see any children on London
streets -- what have done with them all?"

The executive summary of Gehl's report is at

http://www.gehlarchitects.dk/html/pr...ve_Summary.pdf

Guy

In message , Guy Bentham
writes

Here's a bit from Worpole's article:

Based on extensive research into pedestrian activity in and around a number
of key sites in the city, Gehl concluded that: "London has not been designed
with recreation in mind

He's done "extensive research" and didn't even get so far as discovering
that London was *not* designed? Sheez!

and it is noticeable that there are few children or
elderly people using the streets."

And furthermore he didn't even discover that there are few residents in
the city? - hence few schools, few children, etc.

The report goes on to say "results from Regent Street and Tottenham
Court Road show that approximately 96% of all pedestrians are between
the ages of 15 and 64". Brilliant! Shame he didn't also spot that they
are mostly tourists and workers.

You never see any children on London
streets -- what have done with them all?"

Is this man a Grant Artist by trade? has he actually seen London (in its
wider sense)?

The executive summary of Gehl's report is at

http://www.gehlarchitects.dk/html/pr...1_Executive_Su
mmary.pdf

I think we should demand to know how much of Londoner's Council Tax has
been spent on these four pages of nonsense (there are 10 pages, but more
than half of them are photos and a map).

--
Paul Terry

What a silly fellow (?)...Is Jan G (Any relation to Ali I wonder ?) not
aware of Hizzonor The Mayuh`s wonderful proposal to further reduce the
numbers of Child Like beings wandering abroad on London`s streets by forcing
these creatures to Travel for Free on Londons Buses.
This is a splendid piece of forward thinking Social Engineering and is
heartily supported by All in the Public Transport world.
Next up is Hizzonor`s proposal to make clear glass illegal in Public
Transport Vehicles,replacing it instead with etched opaque stuff which will
mean the Childer will then be invisible INSIDE the Buses which will whizz
them from Magistrates to Borstal and "Placement" and back again on the new
Circular "Heritage" route to be operated by First-Stagecoach the Shires.Map
and Pics to follow after next years funding allocation.....Jan

In message , Guy Bentham
writes
"London has not been designed
with recreation in mind and it is noticeable that there are few children or
elderly people using the streets."
He's obviously missed the vast tracts of parkland, used by people of all
ages, which make central London one of the greenest central areas of any
city in the world.

In the bar after his lecture [in
Edinburgh] he is rather more forthright with me [Worpole]. "To be honest, I
was shocked. To my mind, London comes only after Moscow in the contempt the
city planners show for pedestrians. You never see any children on London
streets -- what have done with them all?"
See above remark about the parks. Also the area around Cinemas in
Leicester Square. Or near the London Eye. Or the Palace of
Westminster. Or Covent Garden and the Transport Museum. or Hamley's.
Or on Thames boat cruises and tour buses.

Well, you get the idea.......

(He probably did the research between 9.00am and 4.00pm on a weekday in
term time.)

--
Ian Jelf, MITG, Birmingham, UK
Registered "Blue Badge" Tourist Guide for
London & the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk

"Ian Jelf" wrote in message
...
In message , Guy Bentham
writes
"London has not been designed
with recreation in mind and it is noticeable that there are few children
or
elderly people using the streets."
He's obviously missed the vast tracts of parkland, used by people of all
ages, which make central London one of the greenest central areas of any
city in the world.

In the bar after his lecture [in
Edinburgh] he is rather more forthright with me [Worpole]. "To be honest,
I
was shocked. To my mind, London comes only after Moscow in the contempt
the
city planners show for pedestrians. You never see any children on London
streets -- what have done with them all?"
See above remark about the parks. Also the area around Cinemas in
Leicester Square. Or near the London Eye. Or the Palace of
Westminster. Or Covent Garden and the Transport Museum. or Hamley's.
Or on Thames boat cruises and tour buses.

Well, you get the idea.......

(He probably did the research between 9.00am and 4.00pm on a weekday in
term time.)
From the full report, page 71:
Pedestrian countings carried out in selected streets for 15 minutes every
hour between 10 am and 10 pm. The survey took place on winter and summer
days with nice weather in February and July, inside school terms. The data
was collected on weekdays and Saturdays, during the daytime and in the
evening: Tuesday 25 February 2003 8 am to 8 pm, Wednesday 9 July 2003, 8 am
to 10 pm, Thursday 10 July 2003 8 am to 10 pm, Saturday 5 July 2003 10 am to
6.00 pm.

at
http://www.gehlarchitects.dk/html/pr...lic_Spaces.pdf

There are some good things in the report. For example, from page 40, in a
section ironically entitled "Impressive creativity concerning the layout of
pedestrian crossings":

For the comfort of pedestrians and the vitality and functional quality of
the city, it is important that people can cross the streets frequently and
in an uncomplicated manner. It is a simple experience in most cities. In
London, crossings have been made into labyrinths, ice floes and mole
passages- all adding to confusion, disorientation and unsafety.



There is an inconsistency in layout, which makes it clearly evident that
there is no standard design for pedestrian crossings. The changing design
layout, the lack of pedestrian lights, the lack of clearly marked pedestrian
crossings, the appearance of push buttons at some crossings, the use of
pedestrian subways or sky walks, the extensive use of guard railings -
everything is part of an undeveloped traffic culture, where pedestrians are
very poorly accommodated. The focus has been on vehicular traffic and ways
of facilitating car movements, so that pedestrians have gradually become a
category of secondary city users who face many hardships and experience both
great difficulties and real danger when choosing to walk in the city.



Well, I'd agree with that.



Guy

"Guy Bentham" guybentham at tiscali co uk wrote in message ...

There is an inconsistency in layout, which makes it clearly evident that
there is no standard design for pedestrian crossings. The changing design
layout, the lack of pedestrian lights, the lack of clearly marked pedestrian
crossings, the appearance of push buttons at some crossings, the use of
pedestrian subways or sky walks, the extensive use of guard railings -
everything is part of an undeveloped traffic culture, where pedestrians are
very poorly accommodated. The focus has been on vehicular traffic and ways
of facilitating car movements, so that pedestrians have gradually become a
category of secondary city users who face many hardships and experience both
great difficulties and real danger when choosing to walk in the city.

Well, I'd agree with that.

Quite so - but TfL are paying attention to "best practice" (ugh) in
other cities (IMHO, the French are particularly good at attractive
street furniture, surfaces and so on, and some of the streetscape
improvements in the City could easily have come straight from a French
city). Have a look at the pdfs on this page:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/streets/street...guidance.shtml

particularly the sections dealing with pedestrian crossings.