A ruined railway bridge stretches across a busy street in north London, green leaves peeking out between the beams overhead and bright blue paint peeling from the rusted steel.
Further east, the railway’s grand Victorian arches span a small park between two streets, littered with homeless people’s tents, discarded mattresses and broken bottles. doing.
The elevated railway and some of the areas it passes through may seem neglected right now, but if all goes to plan, it could repurpose disused areas of the city. It would be the site of the Camden High Line, a planned public park. Rich green space.
“They’re all unloved parts of Camden,” said the chief executive of Camden Town Unlimited, the business improvement district behind the effort, about the area that will one day be the above-ground entrance to the High Line. , said Simon Pitkeithley.
A walk along the route of the planned park, which will sit approximately eight feet above the road, will offer a different view of London. Once up here, the air feels fresher and the hustle and bustle below fades away as views open up over north London, dotted with homes and office buildings.
Backers of the Camden High Line project, which has an estimated price tag of £35 million, or about $44.5 million, say it will one day become a vibrant attraction for both tourists and locals, a much-needed addition to the area. We hope to bring in a flow of people. As the name suggests, it is also located in the Chelsea district of New York.
Rather than trying to hide its inspiration, the London line is a deliberate echo of the highly successful New York line.
It, too, has been using railways that have been vacant for decades, and in the case of the Camden Line, for about 30 years.
During a recent walking tour of the planned route, Pitt-Keithley pointed to a brick archway through which a smooth staircase will eventually ascend, taking visitors to an elevated park. The design depicts Londoners strolling along leafy footpaths, past wildflower gardens and observation decks offering views of the cityscape.
The planned width of the Camden High Line will vary widely along the line, expanding by more than 65 feet in some areas where station platforms were full, while shrinking to less than 10 feet in other sections.
The project’s design team was led by James Corner Field Operations, the lead architect for the New York High Line, and worked with other architects and a London-based social enterprise that helped consult residents on their vision for the park. .
As such, the connection to the original High Line is clear and the same hopes for success are kept in mind, but its design has been adapted to serve the region in which it stands, says Pitkey. Mr. Slee said.
There are many differences, but first and foremost is that there is an active railroad line running right next to where the park will someday be developed.
Mr Pitt-Keighley said much of the surrounding area the road passes through is public land with affordable housing, so both wealthy and low-income Londoners will benefit from being close to new green space. He said he would receive it.
However, it will be some time before Londoners and tourists can enjoy the park.
Planning permission was granted in January 2023 for the first section from Camden Gardens East to Royal College Street.
He added that construction will not begin until late 2025 and the first section of the High Line is expected to open in early 2027. Furthermore, it will still be many years before the two sections are added.
Fundraising efforts are still ongoing, but Pitt-Keithley declined to say how much money is left.
But once completed, the entire project will move three-quarters of a mile east from Camden Town, already a popular destination, to King’s Cross, a transport hub and home to another urban regeneration project.
Plans for the Camden High Line have already been praised by MPs and conservation groups, including the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Keir Starmer, Leader of the Opposition Labor Party. and the National Trust. But the planning team’s focus is on the views of people living locally.
Lynn Walls, 57, lives in Maiden Lane Estate, a mixed social and private housing development adjacent to where the easternmost part of the new park will eventually be built. For now, the only sidewalk connecting her home to neighborhoods to the west is a poorly lit path covered in graffiti.
The Camden High Line will eventually become a walkable link to neighborhoods on the west side, she said. For now, Walls said she often has to take “detours” when walking there, as there is currently a secluded walkway connecting the two areas.
“It’s not appealing at all to go in that direction. We just need more lighting and more people using it,” she said. The High Line “is going to be a game-changer,” she added.
On a recent winter afternoon, she was walking her dog with her two grandchildren and daughter-in-law on an enclosed basketball court on the grounds of the complex. Although the area is dotted with green spaces, Walls said the addition of the High Line will add much-needed park space.
At a cafe at the western end of the High Line route, Kiran Duggal, 25, and Barnaby Fishwick, 20, drank coffee in the mild winter afternoon sun.
Friends who work in nearby pubs said they were both excited about the prospect of more green space and better walking routes.
“This will make life a lot easier,” Dougall said, lamenting the lack of easy walkable routes between east and west London in this part of the country.
“There are so many dead places around north London,” Mr Fishwick said, adding that he was looking forward to seeing the new park come back to life. “I just like taking walks.”