tbauman's review against another edition
4.0
This is a good textbook-like book about how cities should be designed. Gehl focuses on the experience of a pedestrian and how elements of buildings, sidewalks, and roads can make or break the walking experience. The author loves old European cities, particularly Venice, and hates cars. This book is a little idealistic. It doesn't talk much about how a car-oriented city can gradually incorporate what Gehl calls "the human element," instead focusing on new cities and very old cities.
This book is pretty repetitive, which can make it a little boring to read straight through. It also doesn't have the passion of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, or the pragmatism of the Walkable City. Overall, though, it's a good overview of modern urban planning thought.
This book is pretty repetitive, which can make it a little boring to read straight through. It also doesn't have the passion of The Death and Life of Great American Cities, or the pragmatism of the Walkable City. Overall, though, it's a good overview of modern urban planning thought.
ladamic's review against another edition
4.0
Fortunately, things are progressing so quickly toward more bikable cities, that some of the description is out of date (e.g. the book mentions that Paris doesn't have adequate bike infrastructure, but this has changed dramatically in the interim). The principles expounded all make sense, and the jabs at architects keep things entertaining. Only a single page of text out of 200+ was devoted to trees in cities, and one had the sense that this was far less of a priority than the hardscape to the author. Jumping between the main text and the many images with lengthy and redundant captions made for slower reading, but the photos were very illustrative.
krayfish1's review against another edition
4.0
The illustrations are great. They really get the book's point (cities built for cars are boring & unsafe to walk through and prevent people from hanging out on the streets) across.
sweewuder's review against another edition
5.0
A thoughtful overview of urban design from the perspective of how people experience the city.
tativv's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
5.0
daria_ch's review against another edition
3.0
Загалом тут багато цікавих речей, які трохи змінили мій погляд на потреби урбанізму (будьмо чесними, сформували цей погляд), але так багато самоповторів, що останні сторінки я вже догортувала. Робіть красиво і зручно, некрасиво і незручно не робіть.
"Мораль така: коли будуєте міста, завжди пам'ятайте про котів, бо якщо коти будуть задоволені, то й людям там сподобається".
"Мораль така: коли будуєте міста, завжди пам'ятайте про котів, бо якщо коти будуть задоволені, то й людям там сподобається".