(This paper is co-authored with Ms. Kessaraporn Bualakorn)
The paper aims to find a unique and interesting infrastructure development project and track its progress activities, outputs and impacts. We chose A case of High Line Park situated in New York as it is unique and interesting in its kind. We tried to answer the following four questions to investigate the case.
1. What is High Line Park, and Why is it Unique?
The ratio of green space per capita, according to the average green space in the global capital cities, is 39 square meters per person. Many cities have green space below this per capita margin. For example, in Bangkok, Thailand, the ratio of green space per person is only about 3 square meters, significantly far below the global average. While we look at the numbers of other capital cities in neighbouring Asian countries, the result shows that in a small country like Singapore, it accounts for 66 square meters per person (Wolch et al., 2014). Many part of the city is being transformed into profitable shopping malls rather than parks. Therefore, realizing the importance of green space in the city is challenging because of the shrinking space resulting from commercial development. The development of High Line Park in New York City is an exciting case of transforming urban wasteland into green spaces (Ekkarach Laksanasamrith, n.d.).
The High Line is a park spanning about 2.33 kilometres in length and totalling 3.75 square kilometres in area. The park's uniqueness was built on the remains of an abandoned elevated train line (Wolch et al., 2014). The construction of the park was done on an old, defunct subway line in New York City. It was a historical train route as it was the world's first elevated sky railway. In the 1930s, when trains became a staple of New York City travel, the High Line was built as an electric train line. It is about 30 feet above the ground in the most significant industrial area on Manhattan's west side in Chelsea. There was a reason to elevate the railroad tracks from the road to reduce accidents between train and road vehicles (Ekkarach Laksanasamrith, n.d.).
Continuing 1980, over a period of more than 50 years, this railway line was retired. Due to replacing the subway in New York, the railroad tracks became a wasteland. Not maintained, decayed, almost wholly smashed, and leaving only the last a few kilometres. One day in 1999, a group of people who called themselves the Friends of the High Line (FHL) was formed by community members from the neighbourhood. They came together to protect, fight, and urge this place to be preserved as the government had decided to demolish the asset. As a part of a public-private partnership, FHL was allowed to manage and take care of the historical treasures and ties of this once-desolate infrastructure. (Ekkarach Laksanasamrith, n.d.).
Before being renovated into a park, this train track was in too bad condition to be healed. Before a resolution was made to transform it into an elevated park, though there was still an abandoned steel structure, the track area was covered with vegetation, overgrown grasses and various kinds of trees.(Wolch et al., 2014). Inspired by the Promenade plantée of Paris, High Line was refurbished as a public space in the sky for people in New York City. Concrete walkways to be built for people to walk through the park in the middle of nature. Flowering trees were planted to cover both sides along the tracks above the industrial area. It was planned as a natural lung that would purify the air well and give a beautiful view to the city's people (Ekkarach Laksanasamrith, n.d.).
The theme of the park changes in every season and every festival. People come to lie down and sunbathe. Take a walk or sit and watch the trees and flowers planted on both sides of the track along the railroad. There are several zones, such as an art exhibition area, morning meditation area, tai chi classroom, breakfast club, poetry club, flower garden, botanical classroom and architecture tour. There are separate family living rooms where parents bring their children to make them learn about nature. There are facilities such as musical arenas, picnic fields, running tracks, and even stargazing. The High Line has become one of the most popular destinations in the city, attracting millions of people each year, along with a variety of birds, insects, and other small animals(Wolch et al., 2014).
2. What has the Local Government done to Develop the Attraction?
The New York City government donated space and approved over $50 million in funding to make the sky park a reality. It was open for a creators’ contest to makeover a project for this railway line. Therefore, there were architects submitting designs from around the world. The winners of the competition were divided into three groups, each overseeing design and construction in three different sections: James Corner Field Operations oversees landscape architecture design, Diller Scofidio + Renfro oversees the architectural design, and Piet Oudolf oversees landscaping and vegetation (Prapprim Pimmarat, 2019). As a result, the project started to be of public interest, widely discussed about space itself and the idea of creating green spaces for the citizens of New York City (Ekkarach Laksanasamrith, n.d.). A brief timeline of the evolution of the park is exhibited in Figure 1 below;
Fig 1: A Brief History of the High Line Park (History | The High Line, n.d.)
3. What has been done to Promote this Attraction?
To answer this question, we investigated to find out the activities done at strategic and operational levels.
City's Long-term Strategy
West Chelsea was a light industrial area back then, and the High Line railway was part of it. The high-line rail network was initially owned by CSX Transportation, a freight company. Later, the ownership of the asset was given to the City Council of New York. The City council had a larger strategic plan to convert West Chelsea into a special district, rezoning the neighbourhood into a mixed area of commercial and residential zones. This rezoning allowed the development of green spaces within the area with residential blocks (Friends of the High Line, n.d.). The High Line was part of a bigger plan. The main objective of the high line park was to transform industrial ruins into ecologically inspired leisure, consumption and tourist space (Lang & Rothenberg, 2017).
The High Line renovation took place with the finance under a public-private partnership, combining the resources from lawmakers, taxpayers and wealthy donors (Rothenberg & Lang, 2017). Friends of High Line (FHL) took the initiative to reinvent the High Line as a public green space (Littke et al., n.d.). The park was then planned to be developed in three sections. 1st section was opened in 2009, the second in 2011 and the last section in 2014. FHL has been operating and maintaining the asset since then.
Activities at the Operational Level
The project was implemented as a sustainable park with green technology and community-based stewardship. As per the official website of the FHL, the core value of High Line is environmental sustainability. The park is refurbished with the reuse of industrial infrastructure waste. Careful plant selection was done, which was native and drought tolerant. The plant species were selected as such that these require low maintenance. The park shelters native wildlife species and pollinators. The necessary materials were locally sourced where possible. The park has its own green roof system with drip irrigation along with a composting mechanism where the garden waste gets recycled. The park does not use pesticides or chemical fertilizers and follows integrated pest management, ensuring the species adapt to the climate (Sustainable Practices | The High Line, n.d.). FHL is responsible for operations and maintenance and raises 100% of revenue to meet its annual budget.
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4. How has the Attraction been Performing so far?
To answer this question, we divided the section into three questions, namely, whether the infrastructure development has triggered economic growth within the vicinity, whether there are ecological benefits and whether the benefit of the development is equally distributed across the population.
a) Contribution to the Economic Growth
Real state value appreciation: After the opening of the first section of High Line Park in 2009, the real estate values of the apartment near the linear park have risen. The increment of the cumulative 10% increase in the value of the real states was observed compared to the areas a few blocks farther than the park. The resale price of the homes within the first section rose by 8.9% more than the blocks outside; likewise, the resale price of the blocks within the second section rose 12.8% more than the ones outside the park boundary. An additional $2 billion of new economic activity is expected near West Chelsea as it is a centre for retail and office spaces. As stated in the previous chapter, the rezoning of the West Chelsea Special District triggered the development of new residential buildings being built within the area, which attracted many city dwellers to move into the neighbourhood. Due to the increased value of real estate, an estimated $900 million in tax revenue is expected in 20 years (Mariela Quintana, 2016).
Increment of high-end services: After the opening of the High Line Park and with the flock of middle and high-class movers into the neighbourhood, several amenities, such as stylish hotels, high-end restaurants, luxury condos, etc., have been built.
Increased number of tourists: A total of 1.3 million people visited in the first year of the opening of the park in 2009. The no. of tourists were in an increasing trend in the following years. In 2015, after the opening of the 2nd and third sections, visitors reached 7.6 million. Travel and Leisure Magazine published the list of most famous landmarks in 2013, where High Line Park was listed as the 10th most famous landmark in the world (High Line Magazine, n.d.).
b) Contribution to Ecology
Due to the increased green space within urban areas, air pollution might have been reduced to some extent, contributing to health benefits for the population living in the vicinity. However, quantifying such indirect benefits from High Line Park is yet to be available in the literature.
c) Contribution to Inclusive development
In the 19th century, during the industrial era, West Chelsea was a booming commercial area with working-class immigrants from diverse backgrounds. By the 20th century, the area had further developed with large high-rise buildings as an affordable housing option for the working class. When the railway was developed as a park, it triggered a cascade development of high-end condominiums and services. It triggered the flock of the upper and middle-class population to move into the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood started becoming increasingly unaffordable for the working class, and they gradually started moving out in search of affordable places. The phenomenon is well described by the term “gentrification”, a process where one class with the more purchasing capacity invades another until they are entirely replaced. Subsequently, the whole social character of the area is changed.
The invasion is confirmed by another study that observed the racial and ethnic diversity among the visitors of the park. The study showed that the park users are overwhelmingly white, which does not match the demography of New York City (Reichl, 2016). New York has been a most polarized city with an economically polarized population (Rothenberg & Lang, 2017). Inequality created by the urban green amenities has also been reported by another study, which states that an increased amount of urban green space can lead to eco-gentrification, displacing existing residents with significant in-migration of the affluent population (Jo Black & Richards, 2020).
To summarise, there is a measurable contribution of the high line park in the economic growth of the area; however, the growth is not equally distributed. The infrastructure development may look impressive in aesthetic terms but is despicable in terms of equitable distribution of growth and inclusion.
Reference
Ekkarach Laksanasamrith. (n.d.). New York City High Line Sky Park. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://dsignsomething.com/2015/07/26/
Friends of the High Line. (n.d.). History | The High Line. Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.thehighline.org/history/?
High Line Magazine: B1G DA+A and Parks | The High Line. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://www.thehighline.org/blog/2017/01/18/high-line-magazine-b1g-daa-and-parks/
History | The High Line. (n.d.). Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://www.thehighline.org/history/?
Jo Black, K. & Richards, M. (2020). Eco-gentrification and who benefits from urban green amenities: NYC’s high Line. Landscape and Urban Planning, 204, 103900. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.LANDURBPLAN.2020.103900
Josh Barbanel. (2016). The High Line’s ‘Halo Effect’ on Property - WSJ. https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-high-lines-halo-effect-on-property-1470608556
Lang, S. & Rothenberg, J. (2017). Neoliberal urbanism, public space, and the greening of the growth machine: New York City’s High Line park. Environment and Planning A, 49(8), 1743–1761. https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X16677969
Littke, H., Locke, R. & Haas, T. (n.d.). Taking the High Line: Elevated Parks, Evolving Neighborhoods, and the Ever Changing Relationship between Urban and Nature (Vol. 4).
Mariela Quintana. (2016). Changing Grid: Exploring the Impact of the High Line | StreetEasy. https://streeteasy.com/blog/changing-grid-high-line/
Prapprim Pimmarat. (2019). A Decade After. The Cloud. https://readthecloud.co/scoop-the-high-line-decade/
Reichl, A. J. (2016). The High Line and the ideal of democratic public space. Http://Dx.Doi.Org/10.1080/02723638.2016.1152843, 37(6), 904–925. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2016.1152843
Rothenberg, J. & Lang, S. (2017). Repurposing the High Line: Aesthetic experience and contradiction in West Chelsea. City, Culture and Society, 9, 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.CCS.2015.10.001
Sustainable Practices | The High Line. (n.d.). Retrieved February 9, 2022, from https://www.thehighline.org/sustainable-practices/
Wolch, J. R., Byrne, J. & Newell, J. P. (2014). Urban green space, public health, and environmental justice: The challenge of making cities “just green enough.” Landscape and Urban Planning, 125, 234–244. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.LANDURBPLAN.2014.01.017
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