The Human Scale

If the result sometimes feels like a sedate lecture, the global journey strongly enlivens the lesson; it’s fascinating how alike and how different cities can be, and more fascinating to imagine what they may become.

The Human Scale uses plenty of globe-hopping examples to make up for what it sometimes lacks in depth.

writer-director Andreas M. Dalsgaard takes such a low-key approach to presenting the film's vital, potentially involving topic that viewers may find themselves more inspired to take a snooze than a stroll.

If Dalsgaard’s advocacy of Gehl’s utopian vision largely ignores the socioeconomic forces arrayed against it, the film should nevertheless enthuse pedestrians, bike riders and public-space proponents everywhere.

Handsome and weighty-feeling but less substantial than it seems.

While there's no doubt that a city's walkability is important, the film would have benefitted from either stats or testimonials in favor of its central premise.

The Human Scale lacks both the punch needed to appeal to the layperson and the deep wonkiness to gain the attention of true geeks of the built environment.