From “boring” to best city in the southern hemisphere: Danish designer Jan Gehl gives his assessment of Melbourne

One of the men credited with the reinvention of Melbourne’s cafe culture dropped in to 3AW Breakfast this morning.

Danish architect and internationally renowned urban designer Jan Gehl is credited with transforming Copenhagen into one of the world’s most livable cities.

He first visited Melbourne in the 70s and was less than impressed.

“I was here as a visiting professor to the University of Melbourne in 1976,” Jan said.

“And the city was rather boring. Come the weekend it was completely neutron-bombed. It was much more fun up in Carlton than it ever was in the city centre.

“Not a cat, not a rat there.”

“What do you think of Melbourne in 2018?” Ross asked

“I’m very impressed,” Jan replied.

He also gave his advice on how Melbourne’s livability could be improved.

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“One of my great joys is to go to cities in South America, and say, by far the nicest city in the southern hemisphere, is it Santiago? No. Is it Montevideo? No. That’s Melbourne in Australia, there’s no doubt about that.”