Great Places is please to present the opening night screening of the documentary film, The Human Scale, on Saturday, December 7, 2013 at the Roxy Theatre in Saskatoon. This film explores the ideas and work of Danish architect, Jan Gehl, and the making and shaping of cities for people.
The Human Scale (Mongrel Media, 2012) questions our assumptions about modernity, exploring what happens when we put people into the centre of our equations. For 40 years, Danish architect Jan Gehl has systematically studied human behaviour in cities. His starting point was an interest in people, more than buildings – in what he called ‘life between buildings.’ What made it exist? When was it destroyed? How could it be brought back? This led to studies of how human beings use the streets, how they walk, see, rest, meet, and interact.
Gehl also uses statistics, but the questions he asks are different. For instance: How many people pass this street throughout a 24-hour period? What percentaage of those are pedestrians? How many are driving cars or riding bikes? How much street space is allowed to the various groups? Is this street performing well for all its users?
Around the world, cities like Melbourne, Dhaka, New York, Chongqing and Christchurch are now also being inspired by Gehl’s work and by the developments in Copenhagen.
The film screening begins at 7:00pm at the Roxy Theatre in Saskatoon on Saturday, December 7, 2013. This will be followed by a panel and audience discussion organized by the University of Saskatchewan Planning Students Association and a wine and cheese reception.
Free tickets are available on a first-order basis at Eventbrite: http://tinyurl.com/ksc85m5