About Jan Gehl

Jan Gehl is Professor of Urban Design at the School of Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen. In 1960, he earned his BA and MA in Architecture from the School of Architecture at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and began practicing as an architect. In 1966, he received a 5-year research grant from his former school to study the form and use of public space. This work spawned his first book, Life between Buildings. He has worked at the school since 1971 as Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and now, Professor of Urban Design. In 1998, the new Center for Public Space Research was established at the School of Architecture with Jan Gehl as the director. He is also the founding partner of Gehl Architects – Urban Quality Consultants. His research on public spaces and public life began in Copenhagen, but was quickly applied to many other cities in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia. His ideas and approach to design for public spaces incorporates the cutting edge of technology without losing sight of what best supports and enhances people’s experience of everyday life in the public realm. As partner of Gehl Architects, Jan Gehl has served as a consultant to city councils and city planning departments across Europe, North America, Australia, Japan, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia.

Most important publications:

Life between Buildings, first published in 1971

Public Spaces- Public Life (with Lars Gemzøe) 1996

New Urban Spaces (with Lars Gemzøe) 2001