The High Line, an elevated rail line spanning 22 blocks and running through three Manhattan neighbourhoods, was constructed in the 1930s to transport freight out of New York. Out of use for over forty years, however, it has been under the threat of demolition since the mid-1980s.

It was then that Joshua David and Robert Hammond came up with the idea of saving the railway structure, transforming it into a unique area of green space. Soon afterwards, Friends of the High Line was born.

Dedicated to environmental and historical preservation and motivated by the idea that people rallying together towards a common goal can bring about a meaningful change, the nonprofit organization soon garnered support from elected officials and open-space advocates. A ruling was passed to preserve the rail line and transform it into a public park, which is now set to open in the spring of 2008.

Although the High Line Project is America’s first elevated park, this phenomenon of transforming abandoned rail structures into public parks and other green-spaces is by no means limited to the city of New York. In fact, this is actually part of a much bigger movement, with similar projects springing up all across North America and Europe.

For instance, in Rail Trails, former rail structures are converted into a community space that can be utilized as public parks or pedestrian paths. An important example of this is the Iron Horse Regional Trail, which boasts a popular bike trail in San Francisco’s Bay Area that crosses Walnut Creek at the Concord-Pleasant Hill boundary.

Paris’s Promenade Plantee is also based on the Rails-to-Trails model. An elevated rail viaduct that has been converted into a 3-mile pedestrian walkway, it stretches from Place de Bastille to the Bois de Vincennes.

Both these projects have proven to be enormously successful, have helped revitalize surrounding neighbourhoods and have inspired new residents and businesses to move to these newly developed areas.

Similar to the Rail Trails in San Francisco and Paris, the High Line Project in New York has sparked a great deal of public interest, with the west side neighbourhood already being called the High Line District. Furthermore, the real-estate boom that has subsequently spawned seems to have convinced developers that this green space will be an asset to local businesses.

Friends of the High Line have managed to create a public park that is unique and innovative in its design and entirely reflective of the area’s historical identity. The High Line Project and many of the Rail Trails like it are not only an integral fusion of historical, cultural and environmental preservation, but also inspiring examples of how communities can work together to define what is important to their residents.