全球超過半數人口居住在現代化城市裡。預計到2050年比例更會達到八成。超級城市是很吸引亦很可怕的。我們到底需要怎樣人性化地計劃這些城市呢？

Fifty percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas. By 2050 this figure is expected to increase to eighty percent. The megacity is both enchanting and scary. But how do we plan these cities in a way, which take human behaviour into account?

在二十世紀，我們竭盡所能去提供能容納很多人的住房，工作地方和交通，通過現代化去創造巨大的高樓，工業大廈和高速公路。物質上的利益是顯而易見的。

In the 20th Century the struggle to provide large numbers of people with proper housing, work spaces and transport led the modernists to create gigantic systems of highrise buildings, industrial estates and high ways. The material gains are evident.

那代價是什麼呢？Jan Gehl的理論是，互動、包容和親蜜是人的基本需求，在城市進步時有時卻被遺忘了。今天我們面對著石油短缺，氣候轉變和因為人口增長而出現的嚴重的健康問題。三十年之內我們需要增加一倍的都市土地而應付激增中的人口。以人為本的計劃會否是出路？這個問題是迫切和關係到我們所有人的。從孟加拉的貧民窟到紐約的金融中心，何謂快樂的人生？一個城市能讓我們快樂嗎？怎樣才算是一個好的城市？是遍佈高速公路、封閉的小區和高樓大廈的城市？還是有單車專行路、公園和步行徑這類型呢？面對未來種種挑戰，建築師是否能滿足人類的各種需求呢？《人性化的尺度》訪問了來自全球不同地方的思想家，建築師和城市規劃師，回應了我們對現代化的各種假設，探討了以人為中心的規劃將會帶來的結果。

What are the costs? Jan Gehl’s thesis is that basic human needs for interaction, inclusion and intimacy was somewhat forgotten during this process. Today we face peak oil, climate change and severe health issues due to our rapid growth. With an exploding population we need to double our urban capacity within 30 years. Can a people oriented planning be the solution? The main question is pressing and includes us all. From the slum of Bangladesh to the financial district in New York. What is a happy life, and can a city make us happy? What is a good city? Is it made of highways, gated communities and highrise structures? Or is it made of bikeways, parks and walking streets? Can architecture meet our human needs in the face of future challenges? THE HUMAN SCALE meets thinkers, architects and urban planners across the globe. It questions our assumptions about modernity, exploring what happens when we put people into the centre of our planning.

Andreas M. Dalsgaard是一名科幻電影導演，2009年畢業於丹麥國家電影學院。2004年畢業於巴黎第七大學視覺人類學，2003年於丹麥奧胡斯大學取得人類學學士學位。“Afghan Muscles” (2007)是他首部執導的紀錄片，於各大電影節中取得好評，並獲得洛杉磯電影節最佳紀錄片獎和羅馬地中海電影節的“眼前一亮”獎。他最近的電影“Cities on Speed - Bogotá Change” (2009)亦於阿姆斯特丹紀錄片電影節中獲獎，並贏得葡萄牙里斯本獨立電影節的觀眾獎。短片“哥本哈根”（2009年，科幻片；2010年獲國際電影學校理事會獎）是他的導演學校畢業作品。

Andreas M. Dalsgaard graduated from the National Film School of Denmark as a fiction film director in 2009. He has a degree in visual anthropology from Université Denis Diderot Paris VII in 2004 and a BA in Anthropology from University of Århus 2003. “Afghan Muscles” (2007) was Dalsgaard’s debut as a documentary director, and it became a festival hit, winning Best Documentary at AFI Los Angeles and Open Eyes Award at Rome MedFilm Festival. His most recent film, “Cities on Speed - Bogotá Change” (2009) was selected for Reflecting Images at IDFA and won the audience award at IndieLisboa in Portugal. The short film “Copenhagen” (2009, fiction - winner of the CILECT Prize 2010, awarded by the world association of film schools) was Dalsgaard’s graduation film as a fiction director.