Green-Line: Nature in an Urban Setting
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Abstract
Many cities lack one of the most beautiful and important aspects of life, nature. When people think of cities they think of traffic and concrete and congestion. It can be a big turn off to people who are used to trees and grass and the empty sounds of nature. With the ever-expanding construction of cities nature gets pushed farther and farther out. Grass turns into concrete, trees get chopped down and in their place businesses are built. Thus, the question arises: how can architecture help bring nature back into the city?
For the past century cities have been designed around vehicles rather than pedestrians. In turn cities become bigger and more spread out. Three lanes of traffic on either side zip by as you try to cross the street making the average walk downtown more time consuming and more dangerous. This thesis proposes an elevated park that uses a bridge system to help add vegetation, gardens, recreational spaces and help make the city more walkable. By adding a second layer of nature to cities, this idea could help bring back some of that lost green space that once occupied the entirety of the city, helping to improve the environment and the ecosystem as a whole. It offers a safer and more efficient path for pedestrians to wander the city while still connecting to the street level businesses.