HOW TO STUDY PUBLIC LIFE
Jan Gehl and Birgitte Svarre
Translation by Karen Ann Steenhard
CO istanperéss | westington |Coveo| London
2013iis mecas.any co ask questions systematically
snd alvite the variety of activites an people
into subcategories in ordes to. 92 spectcannd
‘useful bnevwledge about the comples interaction
flit ancl form in publie space. This chapter
outlines several general study questions: how
xany, vo, where, what, haw long? An example
Isyiven showing bow each basic question has
‘ree studio in
Once we eon observing cyte andisiteracion with
‘hye sareunings even themost ondinry sect comer
{eprode ere tnomiesje shout erp of ty
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cegshrenobnt yee fo oven ie ha wh ond
Tete Coote Asotin where ortega Angel
scene ol tty ton axectond
betwsen Me and form seen endless. The questions
sted the praraph alt ae the most ba and natu
‘ly canbe eombinedin sn wa, When sing were peo
lesa, way relevant ack they at ow tong
they ate saying or some ther combination of estan
Telsmo posable o raw up alist of fred questions hat
Common sense Mostmgatanti that he content 2
Aetemine the methods and 005 and onthe whole, howe
tnvdhen the study shoud be conducted
theverymomant cbzerersfasen her garean group of
people or type of ace or atheros fi te atetion
‘onthe diversity of acti, groupings, tendencies et
lapping nd nat eas to study Oerent ypes facies
ane intecnover:rctestin and purpose activites tae
pace sie by side We cn speak f chai events and
[fconinoous change Pcl becae he interaction
Detwcon fe and spre so complex snd fel to pin
2
> Re]
COUNTING,
MAPPING,
TRACKING
AND OTHER
TOOLSPurpose of Study and Tool Selection
‘pose budget me ad laa conditions determine the
took selected for 3 ud Wl he resus be used as the
bat for mating pola decison o ate some quik
trove and alter satis needed ta measure the eet of
project Are you gathenng pec background informs
ton as pat of a sgn protess os your study pat of 2
more general reser project fo gather basic information
tmeand actos geographic nes)
The choiee of tool is dependent on whether the area
onder the context fhe sd halite inclcing he
local physical cual and cate aspect singlets
choosing Days - Wind and Weather
The purpose o he study ad eal condons determine
wich points time ae relevant fr repsation I the
ang fer misight rept he ata resem
perhaps tion relevant fo register dat ntl ea eve
fing Registration at a playground can be wrapped up n
thesftenoon Theresa big eferenc between wekdoys
nd weekends, and im genera ates change on doy
Iesaing up to nolidys
‘ince goodweathe rovdes the bert conctions for ot
oor public fe registrations ae usualy made on aay with
‘good weatherfor te time of yet tually repens ifr
'the hind of weather that provides the bast condhlonsfot
outdoor ie especialy saying. The weather party
Sanstve for reistring stays, because evan i inclement
‘seth ler up, people do notion wet beaches, andi
Ieee eran. most people ae euctant finda eof
the weotnernalonger lens zt tostyingin publ pace
(nthe course ofa registaton dy, can be macesryt0
‘oripone the rest ofan vestigation 0 another dy withisrotons om two ha days into ae use fl day tu.
Faptton canbe interrupted by lctrs athe than
neat haps con of ane on thew iy toa game or
tern movement
Th eu of regions wl nay be kind of mo
Unprecctabity i what makes cites paces where we can
‘pnd hore looking 3 ther people, and unpreditabity
itt makes feito qt cpture he ots won
dlely ware dy rytien. The wmpueness of hes
brightens the nead for the bere o pesonoly exper
ance and soe te actors tht wfonce the ban He,
Manual or Automated Registration Methods
the sbsvation took deeibed ae primary manual
whic by and age canbe replaced by automated 91
Wt method nthe 19608 908 and os, ost studies
were conducted manually, but newer techroogeal +0.
‘utcnatedcegation makes posable to process age
mounts of dah des ot require the same manpaner
to conduct ebverations, bue does req investments
In eaipment a wel in manponer Yo proces the data
Clete. Therefor, the choles of manor sulted
Imatiod is often dependent on the ofthe study and
the pce ofthe eupmert. Moh of the echnical equ
‘meni ether not very common na ey tage of de
‘Mlopment whch nats even marerelevae to conser
theadvantageranddeadvantages However tay hat
butonoted repitraion wil play are prominent len
puble te studerinfurure
‘in addon, atormated registration must often be
supplemented acaetlevalaton oft astacallecte,
Wher can end up being 2s time consuming es dec
breton
Simple Tools Almost fr Free
[the toot inthe pbb He too were developed 012
Drogmatiteaso: to prev conan fr people