Skip to Content
Streetsblog USA home
Streetsblog USA home
Log In
gehl_workshop.jpgAfter evaluating downtown streets, city staff reported their findings on public life. Photo: Shin-pei Tsay.

Before hitting the "World Class Streets" launch Thursday night, Jan Gehl addressed about 70 staffers from DOT, City Planning, and NYCEDC, part of a day-long exercise that introduced participants to the Danish planner's site evaluation methods. Commissioners Amanda Burden and Janette Sadik-Khan gave a hero's welcome to Gehl, whom they called "instrumental" to revamping New York's approach to planning.

Calling the assembled city staff "the pied pipers of the new way of doing business," Sadik-Khan touted the city's transition to more human-centered street metrics. "The tools that we've used in the past have done a really good job of
helping us measure cars and traffic," she said, "but as we're looking to improve
the condition of our streets for other users of the system -- for
pedestrians, for cyclists, for people whether they're walking around,
riding around, chatting, strolling, having lunch -- we need a much more
comprehensive approach."

After a powerpoint from team Gehl, everyone got a feel for what Sadik-Khan was referring to. Fanning out from City Planning's Reade Street headquarters, 11 groups headed to different sites downtown, timers in hand, to see how well New York's streets and public spaces serve the people who use them. The evaluation combines hard stats like pedestrian and cyclist counts with open-ended questions that touch on the quality of the public environment and how well it supports social activity. The same technique underlies much of the data presented in World Class Streets.

DOT Assistant Commissioner Andy Wiley-Schwartz, who heads up the Public Plaza Program, said that the day's events presage permanent changes. "We are going to be working on different ways of
building some of these methodologies into our standard operating
procedure," he said, "so that we are more versed in studying street life." DOT will both perform the evaluations on its own, he added, and insert the work into consultant contracts.

Many of the city's urban planning advocacy groups were on hand, including the Regional Plan Association, Project for Public Spaces, and the Municipal Art Society. The multi-agency get-together drew their praise. "I think it's great that DOT, DCP, and EDC are collaborating on this initiative to create more sustainable streets in New York City," wrote MAS's Elizabeth Werbe in an email message. "This inter-agency cooperation bodes well for the city, considering the expertise of Gehl Architects in providing innovative tools to measure the conditions that allow for the development of pedestrian and bicycle friendly environments, in addition to the analysis and methodology needed to translate these findings into recommendations that will improve the public realm."

Another thing that bodes well, says Gehl, is simply the act of observing places close-up -- "to get people out there to
see with their own eyes what's going on... by the end of the
day, you know a lot about the city beyond the figures that you got."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog USA

Friday Video: The London Neighborhood Where Bikes Outnumber Cars

...and how they got to that impressive milestone.

July 11, 2025

Friday’s Headlines Battle Galactus

Like the Marvel supervillain, U.S. interstate highway system seems to eat up everything in his path. A new book explores how to stop it.

July 11, 2025

New Report Shows Pedestrian Fatalities Drop — But Experts Say Not Enough

The Governors Highway Safety Association report showed a 4 percent drop in the number of pedestrian deaths last year, putting a slow on a dangerous trend — but advocates say the drop isn't nearly big enough.

July 11, 2025

Talking Headways Podcast: Localities Subsidize the State DOT

Adie Tomer of Brookings on how to improve regional coordination around infrastructure.

July 10, 2025

Five of the Ugliest Transportation Policies In the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Bill

Here's a rundown of some of the transportation provisions in the Republicans' reconciliation package, and what they might mean for your community.

July 10, 2025

Viva La Thursday’s Headlines

Why is French transit ridership up 10 percent since before the pandemic, while American transit ridership is down 23 percent?

July 10, 2025
See all posts