From ‘Highway into Greenway’: How Public Spaces Change Zoning Regulations

Abstract

The case study presented in this paper is a manifestation for an urban regeneration project that transformed a Highway into a Greenway. The first part aims to understand the contextual background of the highway regeneration Project, and it analyses the key factors of the long-debated land use and how the public authorities mandated the development of open public places as a policy. The second part, entails the rebirth of the Public Space as part of the Rose Kennedy Greenway where the role goes beyond the semantics from just a park towards being considered the front porch of the city oldest Neighborhood, the Northend. The last part analyses in depth the cultural programming of the Public Place and its character as a livable destination in the heart of the Downtown district. The methodological approach uses a public Life Matrix of evaluation to identify users’ behavioral patterns through intercept surveys, frequency of social activities through intensive three months long physical observation analysis, and lastly in-depth interviews with local Stakeholders, related Governmental bodies and Boston development and planning authorities. The findings highlighted a tendency that community involvement in the planning and placemaking process helped inform the Public Policy about the needs of surrounding neighborhood residents; as well as, emphasize the Public Private Partnerships in successful urban regeneration projects such as the case of the Northend Park.