Jan Gehl proposes to transform Almaty similar to Copenhagen

Today, J. Gehl met with heads of eight districts of Almaty for discussion of the concept of development of the infrastructure of the city. Earlier he met with Mayor of Almaty Bauyrzhan Baibek. J. Gehl invited a delegation of Almaty to visit Copenhagen for close familiarization with the infrastructure of the city.

During the meeting with the heads of Almaty districts J. Gehl gave an example of development of the infrastructure of Copenhagen over the last fifty years. The transformation included several stages like transformation of the streets, having squares without any traffic allowed there and the transformation of the entire city, so each part of the city could be convenient for people.

"We "invited" cars to the city for many years, but planned to invite people. Do you know what will happen if we widen the streets of Almaty? In 5-10 years they will be packed like today. It happened to many countries already. Instead, we have to build bicycle lanes and walking lanes. The more space you allocate for something the more it is required. I would like Almaty to have the same transformation as Copenhagen," J. Gehl noted.

The architect proposes all layers of the population of Almaty to more actively use bicycles and the city authorities build special lanes for them.

"It is important that the bicycle lane system is connected to the public transport system for people to conveniently switch transport. It didn't happen overnight in Denmark. The changes were gradual and they still continue," he stressed.

Moreover, he said that presently 45% of the population of Copenhagen is using bicycles to reach any destination.

"Any culture needs time to establish. People have to get used to it," he added.