‘From A Highway to A Greenway: A Land Use Dilemma or a Rebirth of a Place? The case of Northend Park Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, Boston, USA

The case study presented in this paper is a manifestation for an urban regeneration project that transformed a highway to a greenway; the first part draws on the understanding of the contextual background of the highway regeneration project, it analyses the key factors of the debated land use and how the public authorities mandated the development open public places as a policy. The second part entails the rebirth of the public place as part of the Greenway where the role goes beyond the semantics from a park towards being considered the front porch of the city oldest Neighbourhood, the Northend. The last part analyses in depth the cultural programming of the Park and its character as a liveable destination in the heart of the Downtown district; using a public Life Matrix of evaluation to identify users’ behavioural patterns through intercept surveys, frequency 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 outcomes highlighted a tendency that community involvement in the planning and place making process helped inform the public policy about the needs of surrounding neighbourhood, as well as emphasize the Public Private Partnership in successful urban regeneration projects.