Abstract: Public Space & Public Life (PSPL) Survey is the main method for Jan Gehl's research of the relationship between public space and public life as well as usage. It aims to find and understand people's activities and behavior patterns in the public domain, its results presented by quantitative and qualitative analysis to provide supports for urban public spaces construction and remodel that lead to creating high quality of public space for citizens' use. This paper has systematically researched and summarized the PSPL Survey's goals, context and detailed method and introduced it based on the interviewing with Jan Gehl and analyzing his theory and projects. The author expects it could be helpful for improving the urban public space design and enhancing the quality of citizen's public life in China. Key words: landscape architecture; Jan Gehl; PSPL survey; human-oriented; public space; public life