Writing Projects
Review of The Human Scale: Sustainable Design For You, By You
An in-depth review of of the film "The Human Scale" that examines the five chapters that span the documentary detailing Danish architect Jan Gehl's vision for sustainable design.
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by Valerie Eikenberry | Published October 14, 2020
Across the globe, bustling traffic-filled cities are changing their infrastructures in hopes of building better spaces for people, and not just cars. Released in 2012, The Human Scale takes a closer look at these cities and their steps towards a better future. The film examines fast-growing cities like Chongqing, China and New York City by looking at the current lifestyle of their residents. Danish director and writer Andreas Dalsgaard, also known for directing The War Show and Life is Scared, makes a point to compare these megacities to those of science fiction. This is because of their high-rise buildings that promote isolation and multi-layered highways that decrease available public space for people to gather.
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Slowly, but surely, projects are being implemented to make space for people in hopes of increasing public engagement. Doing so increases people's quality of life. Thus, the term the "human scale" is coined by adjusting the spaces that people live in to their needs. The documentary pushes forth this ideal of building according to the human scale by introducing various politicians, city planners, and activists who have worked to make these changes within their cities.
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Multi-layered highway in a downtown area
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The film unfolds in five short chapters each beginning with a quote that personifies the message to build cities with more focus on human needs. The director takes us to China in Chapter 1: “First we shape our cities, then our cities shape us” (The Human Scale). The view of one of the world’s fastest-growing economies shows dim apartments emitting loneliness and congested traffic lanes. Here, the filmmakers identify the issue of insufficient city design. In Chapter 2: “You measure what you care about”, changes in Denmark and New York City help to explain why fast-growing cities initially became so similar to science-fiction (The Human Scale). This was due to their focus on efficiency of traffic and not sufficiency of living quality. Next, Chapter 3: “How do you do more with less” shows famous architect Jan Gehl describing his initial research in Italy (The Human Scale). He and his wife studied people’s behavior in one of the happiest cities to understand why the city’s design worked so well.
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Alleyway shops and restaurants in Melbourne, Austalia
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The filmmakers then reveal to us the marvelous rebirth of Melbourne, Australia. The city had undergone simple yet effective changes such as making alleyways friendly public spaces. Finally, Chapter 4: “Walking towards a chaos, created by yourself” and Chapter 5: “It’s very cheap to be nice to people” once again show devastation in cities due to their focus on traffic and not people (The Human Scale). Namely, an activist group inspired by Jan Gehl protested in Bangladesh for a more socially acceptable design that does not favor the rich who have access to cars.
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“These two cities are a stark contrast of social influence on city design. Nevertheless, both convey the desires of people to have their cities be designed by them, for them.”
Meanwhile, the city of Christchurch, New Zealand faced a natural disaster that caused the city to have to rebuild from the ground up. These two cities are a stark contrast of social influence on city design. Nevertheless, both convey the desires of people to have their cities be designed by them, for them. This overall agenda, however, is guided by Danish architect Jan Gehl.
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Danish architect Jan Gehl during a TED Talk in Denmark
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Throughout the film, Gehl and architects from his firm, Gehl Architects, give mini interviews. They apply their input on projects that cities have taken to design more sustainably. Their influence in the film clearly substantiates the vision of Jan Gehl to design to the human scale. Ronnie Scheib from Variety sums it up by saying, "Since big cities lack time and money to expand their infrastructures to meet increased demands, prioritization becomes imperative, and livability within urban structures of tantamount importance," (“Film Review: 'The Human Scale'”). I think he captured the main idea of the documentary perfectly. In his article, Scheib criticizes the socioeconomic blindness of the film.
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"'The talk is not of futuristic utopias, however, but of brick-and-mortar ways to create environments according to the creed of the film’s title.'"
However, the main point of the film was not to encourage cities to take on an expensive human-centered master design plan like Christchurch, New Zealand was able to after the earthquake. Instead, it was that human-centered design needs to be prioritized in any way it can, even in small ways like the seating added to walkways in New York City. David DeWitt from The New York Times further adds on to this idea of a grounded movement. In his brief movie review, he writes, "The talk is not of futuristic utopias, however, but of brick-and-mortar ways to create environments according to the creed of the film’s title," (Making Cities Work for People”). The creed he mentions is that of designing spaces for people.
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His term of "brick-and-mortar" methods further builds upon the idea that small changes in design can have a great impact on those who use the designed space. For example, a main aspect of the new routes that were being implemented in Chongqing was making the street-crossing portion of the pathways pedestrian-friendly. This was done by making a plain section on the street that matched that of the sidewalk. This improved use of the space but once the traffic department re-did the road and removed the sidewalk space on the street, it was no longer a popular spot. These countless examples of the building for the human scale, or the lack thereof, may come from Jan Gehl, but they are present in every city.
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"Watching this film will guarantee you inspiration to get involved. The next step, then, is to message your city council."
The key takeaway from this sustainable design film is that cities need to be built for people - whatever that may look like. Watching this film will guarantee inspiration to get involved. The next step, then, is to message city councils or public works department about the issue to be heard- and seen - across the streets.
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Works Cited
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Dewitt, D. (2013, October 17). Making Cities Work for People. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/movies/the-human-scale-an-urban-documentary.html.
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The Human Scale. Directed by Andreas Dalsgaard, performances by Jan Gehl, Gehl Architects, and Robert Doyle, Final Cut for Real, 2012.
“The Human Scale.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 21 Feb. 2013, www.imdb.com/title/tt2414454/.
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Scheib, R. (2013, October 20). Film Review: 'The Human Scale'. Retrieved September 29, 2020, from https://variety.com/2013/film/reviews/film-review-the-human-scale-1200745255/.
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