Jan Gehl - 3 qualities of the sustainable city from Sustainable Cities™ on Vimeo.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Dubai: Not a Green City but a Black City
Jan Gehl on "green" buildings in Dubai...wait until the end:
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3 comments:
I'm not sure I agree with his idea about how cities need trees and actual greenery. I mean, yes, they need them. But they don't need them for the purpose of filtering air. Relative to the air pollution generated, no amount of trees within a city will really make a dent.
What's really needed is thoughtful placement of landscaping that contribute to the city. Sty Town and Peter Cooper Village in NYC are full of trees, but who cares? I'd rather go hang out a couple blocks away in Union Square, which I'd guess is less than 50% covered with trees/grass.
I agree with you in general. Trees are a welcome addition to most streets, particularly here in Texas where shade is necessary. They are also great in urban parks as a respite from "the city." However, looking even at Copenhagen, there is hardly a tree to be found in Stroget, the carfree area. Mostly because of the narrow scale of the streets, but trees of and by themselves don't make for a great street...which is part of the problem. We think just adding street trees solves the problem of a particular street, when the deeper issue is generally about the capacity, type, and speed(s) of movement and the interface between movement and use.
Furthermore, I agree with you about the thoughtfulness. I HATE HATE HATE HATE tree lawns in urban settings. What is a little bit of grass really helping? On an urban site such as in uptown or downtown, it cuts into sidewalk space and provides a maintenance hassle/burden. Where green is used, it should be focused, it should be thoughtful, it should be purposeful. Not an afterthought. If it looks unnecessary, it probably is and therefore the spaces/blocks/streets could be tightened up, taking all the "remnant" green spaces throughout a neighborhood and compiling them into a more useful open space.
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