Linear park

Promenade Plantée, a 4.7 km (2.9 mi) elevated linear park built on top of obsolete railway infrastructure in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France.

Plan of the Emerald Necklace, Boston, US, in 1894

A linear park is a park in an urban or suburban setting that is substantially longer than it is wide.^{[note 1]} Some are rail trails ("rails to trails"), that are disused railroad beds converted to recreational use, while others use strips of public land next to canals, streams, extended defensive walls, electrical lines, highways^[1] and shorelines.^[2] They are also often described as greenways.^[3][4] In Australia, a linear park along the coast is known as a foreshoreway.

Contents

• 
  1 Examples
  


• 
  2 List of linear parks
  
  
  
  • 
    2.1 Europe
    
    
    
    • 
      2.1.1 France
      
    
    
    • 
      2.1.2 Germany
      
    
    
    • 
      2.1.3 Ireland
      
    
    
    • 
      2.1.4 Portugal
      
    
    
    • 
      2.1.5 Spain
      
    
    
    • 
      2.1.6 United Kingdom
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    2.2 North America
    
    
    
    • 
      2.2.1 Canada
      
    
    
    • 
      2.2.2 United States
      
    
    
    • 
      2.2.3 Mexico
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    2.3 Asia
    
    
    
    • 
      2.3.1 United Arab Emirates
      
    
    
    • 
      2.3.2 Israel
      
    
    
    • 
      2.3.3 Japan
      
    
    
    • 
      2.3.4 Philippines
      
    
    
    • 
      2.3.5 Taiwan
      
    
    
    • 
      2.3.6 South Korea
      
    
    
    
    
  
  
  • 
    2.4 Australia
    
  
  
  
  


• 
  3 See also
  


• 
  4 Notes
  


• 
  5 References
  


• 
  6 External links
  

Examples

Possibly the earliest example is the Emerald Necklace, which consists of a 1,100-acre (4.5 km²), or 445 hectare chain of parks linked by parkways (a broad, landscaped highway)^[5] and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts, US. It gets its name from the way the planned chain appears to hang from the "neck" of the Boston peninsula.^[6] This linear system of parks was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to connect Boston Common and Public Garden (1837) to Franklin Park, known as the "great country park."^[7] The project began around 1878 with the effort to clean up and control the marshy area which became the Back Bay and the Fens. In 1880, Olmsted proposed that the Muddy River, be included in the park plan. The current was dredged into a winding stream and directed into the Charles River. Olmsted's vision of a linear park of walking paths along a gentle stream connecting numerous small ponds was complete by the turn of the century but for a never completed section to Boston Harbor. However, the subsequent development of the automobile severely disrupted the original concept.^[8]

Part of one of Milton Keynes's linear parks

Mauerpark in Berlin, Germany

William Sarjeant Park, one park in a linear park system found in the Willowgrove neighbourhood of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada

Later in England linear parks have also been created around waterways, especially in cities where the terrain is such that rivers and brooks have significant flood plains. Such land cannot sensibly be used for urban development and so is set aside as a civic amenity. Milton Keynes, a New Town created in England in the late 1960, makes extensive use of linear parks, with nine different examples that include the flood plains of the Great Ouse and of its tributaries (the Ouzel and some brooks).^[9][10][11]

In Greater London, Essex and Hertfordshire, the Lee Valley Park is a 10,000-acre (40 km²) 26 miles (42 km) long linear park, much of it green spaces, running along the flood plain of the River Lea from the River Thames to Ware, through areas such as Stratford, Clapton, Tottenham, Enfield, Walthamstow, Cheshunt, Broxbourne and Hoddesdon in an area generally known as the Lea Valley. Greater London's largest park, Lee Valley Park is more than four times the size of Richmond Park, extending beyond Greater London's borders into the neighbouring counties of Hertfordshire and Essex.

A more recent example of a linear park is the Berlin Mauerpark, which was built on a part of the former Berlin Wall area and its adjacent former death strip.
Another example is Planty Park, Kraków, Poland). It encircles the Stare Miasto (Old Town), where the Medieval city walls used to stand until the early 19th century. The park has an area of 52 acres and a length of 4 kilometers (2.5 mi). It consists of a chain of thirty smaller gardens designed in varied styles and adorned with numerous monuments and fountains. The park forms a scenic walkway popular with Cracovians. In summer, sprinkled with ponds and refreshment stalls, it is a cool and shady retreat from the nearby bustling streets.^[12]

In some cities, many linear parks run through residential areas, where housing will front streets and back onto small linear parks containing a pathway, trees and grass. Examples are numerous in some Canadian cities such as Saskatoon.^[13]
Another example is the BeltLine system currently being planned and built in sections is in Atlanta, Georgia, US, which will completely encircle its central business districts, and include a trail and eventual light rail line on existing tracks instead of another road.

List of linear parks

High Line Park, New York City, US an aerial greenway, modelled on Paris's Promenade plantée^[14]

Europe

France

• 
  Promenade plantée, Paris
  

Germany

• 
  Mauerpark in Berlin


• Mittellandkanal, Hannover


• Kattenbrook-Park, Hannover

Ireland

• 
  Dodder Park, Dublin
  


• 
  Lansdowne Valley Park, Dublin
  

Portugal

• 
  Tagus Linear Park, Póvoa de Santa Iria (River Tagus)

Spain

• Sagera Linear Park, Barcelona


• 
  Turia Gardens (Jardín del Turia), Valencia
  

United Kingdom

• 
  Brampton Valley Way in Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, England
  


• 
  Hogsmill River Park, London, England


• 
  Mile End Park, East London, England

North America

Canada

• 
  Beltline Linear Park and West Toronto Railpath, Toronto, Ontario
  


• 
  Grand Concourse (St. John's), Newfoundland: a walkway system with linear parks
  


• Parc linéaire de la rivière Saint-Charles, Québec City, Québec


• 
  Parc Linéaire Le P'tit Train du Nord, Saint-Jérôme - Mont-Laurier, Quebec.


• Strathcona Linear Park, Vancouver, British Columbia

United States

• 
  Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina and Virginia
  


• 
  Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Washington, D.C., West Virginia, and Maryland
  


• 
  Embarcadero, San Francisco, California
  


• Pastor Willie James Ford, Sr. Linear Park, Deerfield Beach, Florida^[15]
  


• 
  Alewife Linear Park, Massachusetts
  


• 
  Charles River Esplanade, Boston, Massachusetts
  


• 
  East Boston Greenway, Boston, Massachusetts
  


• 
  Elizabeth River Parkway, Union County, New Jersey
  


• 
  Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston, Massachusetts
  


• 
  The 606 (Bloomingdale Trail), Chicago, Illinois
  


• 
  Burnham Greenway, Chicago, Illinois
  


• 
  Dequindre Cut, Detroit, Michigan
  


• 
  Grand Park, Los Angeles, California
  


• 
  Hollywood Central Park, Los Angeles, California
  


• High Line Park, New York City


• 
  Indianapolis Cultural Trail, Indianapolis, Indiana
  


• Ocean Parkway, New York City


• Eastern Parkway, New York City


• 
  Mosholu Parkway, The Bronx, New York City


• 
  Passaic River Parkway, Union County, New Jersey
  


• 
  Pelham Parkway, The Bronx, New York City


• 
  Rahway River Parkway, Union County, New Jersey
  


• 
  Salesforce Park, San Francisco


• 
  Vanderbilt Motor Parkway, Queens, New York City


• 
  Hudson River Park, New York City
  


• 
  Midtown Greenway and trails network of Minneapolis, Minnesota
  


• 
  James River Park System, Richmond, Virginia^[16]
  


• 
  Washington & Old Dominion Railroad Regional Park, Northern Virginia
  


• 
  Freeway Park, Seattle, Washington
  


• 
  San Antonio River Walk, San Antonio, Texas
  


• 
  The Loop, Tucson, Arizona
  

Mexico

• 
  Línea Verde, Aguascalientes
  

Asia

United Arab Emirates

• 
  Al zorah linear park, Ajman
  

Israel

• 
  Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv
  

Japan

• 
  Odori Park, Sapporo
  

Philippines

• 
  Plaza Moriones, Manila
  

Taiwan

• 
  Calligraphy Greenway, Taichung
  

South Korea

• 
  Seoullo 7017, Seoul
  

Australia

• 
  Stirling Linear Park, near Adelaide


• 
  Sturt River Linear Park, near Adelaide


• 
  The Goods Line, Sydney
  


• 
  Torrens Linear Park, Adelaide
  

See also

• Boardwalk


• Footpath


• Foreshoreway


• Greenway (landscape)


• Promenade


• Trail


• Urban park


• Wildlife corridor

Notes

1. 
   ^ There is no dictionary definition for the term in the full Oxford Dictionary of English. Linear: Resembling a line; very narrow in proportion to its length, and of uniform breadth. Oxford Dictionary of English. The term linear park seems to be first used on a regular basis in the 1960s and 1970s (Google Ngram Viewer). The earliest usage in Britain is, in reference to the idea of a River Thames "linear national park", in Time on the Thames by Eric Samuel De Maré (Architectural Press, 1952) (Ngram). Google Ngram Viewer, however, indicates a few earlier examples, including the US in 1939 (Supplementary report of the Urbanism Committee to the National Resources Committee, Volume 2. United States. National Resources Committee. Research Committee on Urbanism, Clarence Addison Dykstra. U.S. Govt. 1939.) It may also have been used in 1873, but Ngram didn't provide the source(s).
   

References

1. 
   ^ "Parks and Recreation Programming Master Plan" (PDF). Hurst, Tx City Council. Retrieved 2009-04-06..mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"""""""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration{color:#555}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration span{border-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center}.mw-parser-output code.cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{font-size:100%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-right{padding-right:0.2em}
   


2. 
   ^ "Study Trail profiles". U.S. Department of Transport Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved 2009-04-06.
   


3. 
   ^ Truman Greenway, Savannah, Georgia, US
   


4. 
   ^ City of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
   


5. 
   ^ "parkway."Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Apr. 2007).
   


6. 
   ^ Emerald Necklace Greenway
   


7. 
   ^ Emerald Necklace Greenway
   


8. 
   ^ Emerald Necklace Greenway
   


9. 
   ^ Ouse Valley Park^{[permanent dead link]} - Milton Keynes Parks Trust
   


10. 
    ^ Ouzel Valley Park - Milton Keynes Parks Trust
    


11. 
    ^ Parks Trust Milton Keynes
    


12. 
    ^ Andrew Beattie, From the Piast Church to the Holy Cross Church Landmark Publishing, page 40.
    


13. 
    ^ "City of Saskatoon". Archived from the original on 2014-11-13. Retrieved 2014-11-16.
    


14. 
    ^ "Paris Elevated Rail Park Featured in Movie 'Before Sunset'". Friends of the High Line. August 12, 2004. Archived from the original on October 23, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
    


15. 
    ^ District 4 News - January 22, 2015 (Commissioner Bill Ganz)
    


16. 
    ^ James River Park System, Richmond, Virginia
    

External links

• Larry Houstoun's Urban Public Spaces & Business Improvement Districts

This page is only for reference, If you need detailed information, please check here