Results tagged “jangehl”

The next time somebody tells us that Toronto is in the midst of a war on cars we are going to buy them a plane ticket to Copenhagen. Or possibly Bogotá. New York if they want something closer to home. We will send them to one of the growing number of cities that are actually demonstrating the nerve to redefine their planning priorities in favour of liveability and environmental sustainability and dare the auto-obsessed malcontents to say that they aren't all the better for it. For all the recent controversies over Toronto's Bike Plan and Walking Strategy, over our notions of just talking about taking down one portion of one disastrous highway, and converting one traffic lane on a road that is not used to capacity [PDF] to allow five times the number of people to use it on their bikes, Toronto's initiatives are piddling, tentative, nibbling-around-the-edges sorts of things when compared with what is happening elsewhere in the world.

LECTURE: Danish Urban Designer Jan Gehl presents his work and rounds out his lecture with a discussion of what makes good public design. The architect and (actual) urban planner has been at the forefront of pedestrian and pedal-friendly design in cities around the world for the past twenty years. This is the first of two lectures exchanging public space ideas with Danish designers, co-presented by the City of Toronto. Design Exchange, trading floor (234 Bay Street), 3–5 p.m., FREE.