Letter: Questioning Gehl

I am a long-term admirer of the work of Jan Gehl, but I feel some disappointment with his proposals for improving Princes Street (your report, 17 February). I have three main questions about his work.

First, he says he aims to make the area more pedestrian friendly. Bus users become pedestrians once they alight, but with buses removed from Princes Street, where will this be? Queens Street seems the most likely location, meaning a climb up and over George Street to reach Princes Street. Not very friendly.

Second, there is an approximate three metre change in level between the Princes Street pavement and the upper path in the gardens.

The railings, which Gehl proposes removing, protect us from this potential danger, and also add a pleasant esplanade-like character to the street. Leave them, or health and safety inspectors will have plenty to say.

Third, has Gehl counted the number of statues and art works along George Street and Princes Street, including the gardens? Surely we don't need any additions to these, or does he see them as part of the clutter he aims to remove?

This is at least the fourth commissioned proposal for the area, after Boys, EDAW and Ironside Farrar, and shows few, if any, improvements to these earlier studies. Surely it is time for the powers that be reach a decision on how sensibly to take the best features of all these professional studies forward to fruition.

Seamus Filor

Greenhill Gardens

Edinburgh