Public life survey - help needed

Volunteers are urgently needed to help collect data on how Wellingtonians use the city centre. Lets Get Wellington Moving, together with Wellington City Council are running a Public Life Survey in the city centre.

Gehl Architects will be running the survey remotely, using the  methodology developed by Jan Gehl and his team, with local firm AitkenTaylor managing things on the ground. 

Weather permitting the first of two survey days is next Tuesday (March 23) and Saturday, April 10. Volunteers will get online training in Gehl’s internationally acclaimed research methods. 

Volunteers are needed to help run the Public Life survey in Wellington.

AitkenTaylor director Den Aitken, says the project was originally planned for last year but postponed because of COVID 19. 

Public Life Surveys are an observational method for generating quantitative data regarding people and their interactions with the built environment, with an end goal of making cities and places better for people. But Aitken says it’s more than just standing in a corner counting people. 

Weather permitting the first of two survey days is next Tuesday (March 23)

“It’s about figuring out trends - what times people are out walking, where they’re walking and equally important where they’re not walking,” he says. 

“It’s the same for cycling. We also look at age and gender to see who’s missing from the picture.” 

In Nelson for example, where his company carried out a similar survey, they realised that less than two percent of those registered were children. “So that was one of the key things that influenced the setting up of pocket parks around town to try to make it more family friendly.” 

Volunteers are urgently needed to help collect data on how Wellingtonians use the city centre.

For Wellington, just over 70 volunteers are needed to do eight hour shifts. Each will receive a $250 prezzie card for their time and effort. Aitken says the work will appeal to those interested in urban design, and those who take part often look at their cities differently after observing how people interact with their environment. 

Gehl have developed an app where all the information is recorded into a database and evaluated. 

Anyone who’s interested in volunteering should email kaara@aitkentaylor.co.nz.