Bridging Neighbourhoods: The Impact of Urban Parks in Connectivity

Urban connectivity is a fundamental element of sustainable and accessible cities. The research investigates the role of the High Line in New York City as an effective urban placemaking by enhancing continuous pedestrian movement across the city through its linear park spanning throughout the urban fabric. In transforming an abandoned railway into a public space, the High Line serves as a model for urban design that interconnects the park with the built environment of New York making the city more walkable for people to use. The study is divided into two parts: A case study on the spatial mapping of the project and quantitative data from social media analysis of user activities. The research aims to assess the various amenities that the High Line facilitates to predict the foot traffic of various users. Spatial mapping of the High Line will be employed to illustrate the integration of the High Line within the urban fabric highlighting the connections to landmarks, transportation systems, and its own public spaces to assess the amount of people using the park as a way of connecting to different parts of the city. In addition, the data gathered from the social media analysis in platforms such as posts and tweets will quantify the density of foot traffic on certain zones of the High Line and assess the reasons for both high and low pedestrian movement. The outcome demonstrated the effectiveness of elevated linear parks in improving urban connectivity through innovative solutions for pedestrian pathways.