Imagine living in a city where pedestrians and cyclists were a priority, where quality of life mattered as much as transit, taxes or economic performance.

In some cities — including many where Jan Gehl has wrought his transformational magic — that’s simply the way it is.

The celebrated Danish architect and public space guru returned to Toronto this week for a series of talks about how to remake cities, including this one, so they can be enjoyed, not just endured.

Turns out — little surprise here — it’s all about data and political will. During the course of his 50-year career, Gehl has made cities from Copenhagen (where he lives) to Melbourne, New York and Christchurch the envy of urban dwellers everywhere.

That would seem an overwhelming task in Toronto, where he lived for a year in 1973–74, but in fact, he insists, the raw material is all in place.

“Toronto is excellently suited for a high-quality bike system,” Gehl insists. “It’s relatively flat and reasonably well-connected in the old city. The streets are wide so there’s room for bike lanes. It would be a much livelier city, more sustainable and more healthy.”

Keep in mind that more than half the population of Gehl’s hometown — 55 percent, to be precise — ride their bikes daily. And, yes, they do have winter in Copenhagen, and even snow.

According to Gehl, the city saves 25 cents for every kilometre a cyclist rides, and loses 17 cents for every kilometre travelled by car.

“When Copenhagen started to pedestrianize its main street in 1962, everyone was exceedingly nervous,” Gehl recalls. “I remember the acidic debate about getting rid of cars. But it worked out beautifully. We narrowed the streets from four lanes to two, added bike lanes and planted trees. Today the city is more beautiful and much safer.”

If there’s a problem, he explains, it’s that the bike lanes can no longer handle the volume of two-wheeled traffic; the major routes are now being doubled in width. Bikes have become so much a part of the identity of Copenhagen, Gehl says, that government ministers showed up for an audience with the Danish queen after the 2011 election on bikes.

“But you need a complete bike system,” he says, “not just lines painted on a road. Bike lanes carry five times as much traffic as car lanes. Since then, the way of thinking has really changed in Copenhagen. It was the first city to study people as seriously as other cities study traffic. In Copenhagen, politicians and businessmen derive their courage from the data.

“The fact is that cities now compete against one another on the basis of liveability,” Gehl points out. “To be included on one of those most-liveable-cities lists is sheer gold, economically speaking. And you don’t need to drive to everything; there’s quite a bit of economic activity attached to walking.

“For 50 years,” he says, “planners have done everything to enable people not to use their muscles. But the only way to save the world is to make them move.”

Gehl’s only regret is that despite his time in Toronto — which he calls “one of the most fantastic years of my life” — he has yet to work here. Though the city could benefit hugely from his experience, that has yet to take place. The hard part would be figuring out where to start; just about anywhere would do.

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In the meantime, Torontonians will have to settle for one of Gehl’s numerous books. Even his Wednesday evening talk at Ryerson University, presented by Evergreen CityWorks, is sold out.