The Urban Land Institute will bestow its Open Space Award on one of five parks during the four-day ULI Fall Meeting in Boston beginning October 8. The award recognizes open and transformative spaces that promote healthy, sustainable and equitable outcomes in their communities. A jury of architects, developers, investors and planners evaluate the projects based on design, programming, community benefits, partnerships, funding and the demonstration of value.
Citygarden in St. Louis won the first Open Space Award in 2011. This year, 49 projects across five countries were submitted for consideration. ULI narrowed those to the following:
Levy Park – Founded in 1941, Levy Park in Houston’s Upper Kirby District southwest of downtown for years had suffered from limited access and visibility. But early this century, the Upper Kirby Redevelopment Authority took over the park’s management from the city and eventually spearheaded a $15 million redevelopment. Keys to success included an assemblage of surrounding parcels to create a larger, more uniform 5.4-acre park. Additionally, a private developer built apartments, offices, a restaurant and garage adjacent to Levy Park after agreeing to a 99-year ground lease with the redevelopment authority. The redevelopment team included OJB Landscape Architecture, Biederman Redevelopment Ventures and Natalye Appel + Associates Architects.
Madrid Rio Park – The Madrid City Council's decision in 2003 to create a tunnel for some 25 miles of roadways that run along both banks of the Manzanares River led to the 360-acre Madrid Rio Park. The roads had separated 6 million residents from the river, and moving them below the surface provided much-needed green space in the city's southern neighborhoods. All told, the $5 billion project took a decade to build and includes trails, beaches, art centers, playgrounds and restaurants. The design team included Burgos & Garrido, Porras La Casta, Rubio & A-Sala, and West 8.
Quequechan River Rail Trail – Developers in Fall River, Mass., transformed an abandoned rail right-of-way into a roughly two-mile recreation trail that has provided public access to the Quequechan River. The $7 million trail also has reconnected Fall River after construction of Interstate 195 split the city in 1958, and the trail will play a key role in a long-term plan to link Providence, R.I., to Provincetown, Mass., by bike. The trail runs through low-income neighborhoods beset by high rates of diabetes, but it has led to a 66% increase in walking and biking. The development team included Brown Richardson + Rowe, the Friends of the Quequechan River Trail Assocation, the city and government agencies.
Baxi River Forest Island – As the Baxi River snakes through Changsha in the Hunan Province of China, seasonal flooding, rapid water flow and constructed monocultures contribute to the erosion, destabilization and loss of habitat of 15 area islands. Rather than employing the traditional solution of creating hard edges to protect the Baxi River Forest Island, the local government embraced the river's ecosystem and used grading, terracing and planting techniques to withstand yearly river level fluctuations of 18 feet. The 156-acre island park provides some 7 million residents in the surrounding city with a number of amenities, including an extensive boardwalk and native plants. SWA Group designed the park.
Ricardo Lara Linear Park – SWA Group also was instrumental in an effort to turn a vacant five-acre strip of land alongside Interstate 105 into a mile-long park in Lynwood, Calif. The park is located in a densely populated neighborhood that for years had lacked open space, and it emphasizes recreation, social equity and environmental health. What's more, it brought together neighborhoods after construction of the highway separated them in the 1990s. The city tapped a $5 million grant from a California Department of Parks and Recreation fund to spearhead the project.
