This post originally appeared on the Gehl Architects Cities for People blog When Janette Sadik Khan and Amanda Burden visited CPH back in 2007, they were impressed with the overall vibe of the city as well as some of the practical design details. They were inspired by the diversity of public life, the quantity of cyclists, and quality of streets and spaces as well as by smart designs, like allowing parallel parked cars along streets to form a protective barrier for cyclists (aka Copenhagen Style bike tracks). At that time, we emphasized again and again that as wonderful as Copenhagen seemed on that visit, it took 40 years of hard work by countless city leaders, advocacy groups, and citizens to get it to that state. They replied that it was fine that Copenhagen had 40 years to get it right but that they only had 600 days until the end of the 2nd Bloomberg term! 
Park Avenue: Renewing the green tradition As the Bloomberg Administration winds down (The mayoral elections on November 5th will select Bloomberg’s successor to take over on Jan. 1 2014), one of the final acts of the administration is to rezone East Midtown to incentivize new investment and development. Although the area includes Grand Central Terminal, Park Avenue and numerous cultural icons, they are difficult to enjoy, as sidewalks are narrow and congested, public spaces are uninviting and public life is mono-functional comprised mostly of business lunches. The district seems to be better suited to the lifestyle of the Mad Men era, than of the dynamic urban culture of 2013. Together with Jonathan Rose Companies and Skanska, we created a vision for the district’s public realm, addressing issues from the large to the small scale. Our plan to re-engage with cultural and architectural icons, to re-imagine the streets and public spaces and to get the details right block by block was unveiled by Deputy Mayor Steel at the MAS Summit last week. The project is a result of an inclusive process engaging hundreds of citizens and stakeholders through a series of public workshops and in collaboration with numerous city agencies and City Hall. The initial response has been overwhelmingly positive, see more at: www.crainsnewyork.com or www.untappedcities.com 
By coincidence we also launched the NY premier of the Human Scale, which explores the efforts of people around the world, who have been inspired by Jan Gehl and Gehl Architects to make their cities better for people. The film touches on numerous subjects looming large for the next Mayor of New York such as health, income inequality, social justice as well as climate change and resilience. Regardless of who is elected we urge him to remember the human scale in all plans and policy, from the grand plans for East Midtown, Penn Station, and Hudson Yards to the small, such as parklets, bike lanes and neighborhood plazas. To paraphrase Jan’s closing monologue in the film, it is surprisingly affordable and simple to be good to people that live in cities. We can achieve win-wins of economic growth and sustainable development if we prioritize the needs of people and focus on ensuring access for all to amenities and services so vital to quality of life in Cities. Imagine what NYC could achieve with constant dedication and focus on being ‘sweet to people’ for 40 years! Read the full plan here, and for more from Gehl Architects, check out the blog Cities for People.
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