The Inner-city Streets – people chatting in the street

Af Jan Gehl

In winter, it is actually quite nice to wander the streets of the inner city. Not the pedestrian shopping streets, Strøget and Strædet, although Strædet is definitely preferable to Strøget, I’d say. But especially the other side streets, where there is almost no traffic. It’s great how people can walk down the middle of the street chatting. There’s a wonderful calm about it all. This also happens more in winter today than it used to. For example, the smoking ban has pushed people out of doors, also in winter. The cappuccino culture has come to stay, and the cafés have discovered that a simple blanket can be enough to get us to sit outdoors.