Technology · Public space

The linear park / greenway

1878 / 2009 revival · Boston / New York
Olmsted's 1880 drawing for a continuous park promenade along Boston's Muddy River, the linear-park corridor that became the Emerald Necklace
Olmsted's 1880 drawing for a continuous park promenade along Boston's Muddy River, the linear-park corridor that became the Emerald Necklace · Public domain · Frederick Law Olmsted

What it is

The linear park is a long, narrow green corridor for recreation and movement, often following a watercourse, ridge or former transport route. Frederick Law Olmsted's Emerald Necklace, begun in Boston in 1878, linked parks along the Muddy River into a continuous chain that also managed flooding. The idea was revived for disused infrastructure in New York's High Line, built on an abandoned elevated rail viaduct and opened from 2009.

Why it matters

Greenways stitch parks, neighbourhoods and habitats together while providing walking and cycling routes apart from traffic. The reuse of derelict infrastructure as linear park has become a signature model of contemporary urban regeneration and ecological design.

Plans it shaped

See it on the timeline →
hub.toekom.st — History of Urbanism · an interactive timeline of 850 planned cities across 6,000 years.