GET 35% OFF YOUR FIRST YEAR!

Limited time - use promo code: SPRING35 at checkout

Live stream preview

Watch this video and more on OVID.tv

Watch this video and more on OVID.tv

Start your free trial

Already subscribed? Sign in

The Human Scale

Architecture & Design (collection) • 1h 16m

Directed by Andreas M. Dalsgaard • Documentary • With Jan Gehl • 2012 • 77 minutes

50% of the world's population lives in urban areas, by 2050 it will be 80%. Cities have become the primary human habitat. According to revolutionary Danish architect and urban planner Jan Gehl, if we are to make cities sustainable and livable for people we must re-imagine the very foundations of modern urban planning. Rather than examining buildings and urban structures themselves, Gehl and his team meticulously study the in-between spaces of urban life, the places where people meet, interact, live, and behave.

Stunningly photographed, THE HUMAN SCALE travels around the world to explore how Gehl and other like minded designers, city planners, and urban activists have begun to transform such cities as as New York, Beijing, Christchurch, and London.

"Makes an excellent case for designing cities around people instead of automobiles."—Variety

Tags
americas, architecture, area studies, art and architecture, asia, asian studies, australia, beijing, business, car-centric cities, china, cities as primary human habitat, city planners, copenhagen bicycles, danish architect, david byrne, east asia, engineering, environment, environment1, expository, globalization, in-between spaces of urban life, india, jan gehl, kimstim, labor and economics, london, making streets more accessible, mid-atlantic, more humanistic cities, new york, new york city, new zealand, oceania, ovid, re-imagining foundations of modern urban planning, rebuilding christchurch nz, resource planning and management, revolution in urban planning, s_0018, s_0126, s_0247, s_0280, s_0312, s_0421, s_0426, s_0447, s_0514, s_0546, s_0581, s_0582, s_0635, science and technology, social studies, south asia, studying urban life, sustainability, sustainable cities, the, title_defgh, title_h, transforming cities, union square, united states, urban activists, urban planning, urban studies, world regions

Up Next in Architecture & Design (collection)

  • Tiny: A Story About Living Small
    1:01:21
    Tiny: A Story About Living Small

    Tiny: A Story About Living Small

    Directed by Merete Mueller & Christopher Smith • Documentary • 2013 • 62 minutes

    After a decade of travel, Christopher Smith approaches his 30th birthday and decides it's time to plant some roots. He impulsively buys a 5-acre plot of land in hopes of fulfilling a lifelong dream of building a...

  • How to Build an Igloo
    10:29
    How to Build an Igloo

    How to Build an Igloo

    Directed by Douglas Wilkinson • Documentary • 1949 • 10 minutes

    A demonstration of igloo-building in Canada's Far North, showing how the site is selected and how blocks of snow are used to make a snug shelter in only an hour and a half. As the camera follows each stage, the commentary explains t...

  • Future of Mud
    58:10
    Future of Mud

    Future of Mud

    Directed by Susan Vogel • Documentary • 2007 • 58 minutes

    Through the story of a mason in Djenne, Komusa Tenapo, and his family, this documentary examines an African tradition of mud architecture in Mali. The environmental genius of these ancient construction techniques thick walls with tiny win...

×