From 'Highway into Greenway': How Public Spaces Change Zoning Regulations

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 partanalyses 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.