Germany’s most densely populated city, Munich asked Gehl to conduct its first ever city-wide study on User Patterns in Public Space. The study revealed the city’s prominent locations and uses, key conflicts and barriers, and civic needs. Recommended actions were proposed to help ensure the public realm serves the best interests of the city’s people long into the future.
Munich is famed for its beer gardens enjoyed by locals and visitors alike. Photo by Sarah Donovan/Unsplash.
Everyday spaces provide opportunities for a range of activities as people go about their ‘daily doings’ as Jan Gehl would say! Image by Gehl.
Bavaria’s capital, and Germany’s third most populous city with 1.6 million urban residence (6.4 million in it’s metropolitan area), Munich is revered as a great city for people, even topping the Monocle Livable Cities ranking in 2018. With predicted demographic changes, the city looked ar the role of public space in ensuring an accessible, relevant and inviting city for the future. Following an extensive data collection process by the city, Gehl was called to analyse findings, uncovering the user patterns of public space across Munich.
The analysis mixed qualitative and quantitative findings with spatial context data to devise the everyday behavioural patterns of people. Amongst the conclusions was a recognition of the importance of the urban public spaces – the streets, squares and corners (rather than only the big green spaces), that people primarily use the public spaces in their resident neighbourhood, and that the basic, everyday facilities, such as public toilets, clean urban furniture, and places to sit remain crucial to people’s use and perception of the public realm.
This report provides a shared language and stories of Munich’s public space use that can be used in the context of further urban development planning and preparations for the expected demographic changes.
Urban Strategy is the foundation upon which form, function and behaviour are created. Our holistic approach always starts with asking what life should exist in place, what spaces invite for that life, and what buildings and facilities support this. People and life first, always.
Public Life Data, the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative information about how people use and engage with public spaces, uncovers the true picture of how design impacts behavior. Our teams use this collected analysis to develop strategies and plans that foster more equitable, healthy and climate-positive lifestyles.