Greenway (landscape)

A greenway is a trail or road along a strip of undeveloped land, often near an urban area, set aside for recreational use or environmental protection.[1][2] Though many are in urban areas, there are some rural greenways, as for example the Monadnock-Sunapee Greenway, a hiking trail in southern New Hampshire.

The Cross Vermont Trail, a greenway in New England, US

Greenways are frequently created out of disused railways, canal towpaths, utility or similar rights of way, or derelict industrial land. Rail trails are one of the most common forms of greenway.

Greenways also resemble linear parks, and can serve as wildlife corridors.

In Southern England, the term also refers to ancient trackways or green lanes, especially those found on chalk downlands, like the Ridgeway.[3]

Terminology
Charles River Esplanade, Boston, Massachusetts, US

The American author Charles Little in his 1990 book, Greenways for America,[4] defines a greenway as:

A linear open space established along either a natural corridor, such as a riverfront, stream valley or ridgeline, or overland along a railroad right-of-way converted to recreational use, a canal, scenic road or other route. It is a natural or landscaped course for pedestrian or bicycle passage; an open-space connector linking parks, nature reserves, cultural features, or historic sites with each other and with populated areas; locally certain strip or linear parks designated as parkway or greenbelt.[5]

The term greenway comes from the green in green belt and the way in parkway, implying a recreational or pedestrian use rather than a typical street corridor, as well as an emphasis on introducing or maintaining vegetation, in a location where such vegetation is otherwise lacking. Some greenways include community gardens as well as typical park-style landscaping of trees and shrubs. They also tend to have a mostly contiguous pathway. Greenways resemble linear parks, but the latter are only found in urban and suburban environments.

Though wildlife corridors are also greenways, because they have conservation as their primary purpose, they are not necessarily managed as parks for recreational use, and may not include facilities such as public trails.

Tom Turner analyzed greenways in London looking for common patterns among successful examples. He was inspired by the pattern language technique of architect Christopher Alexander. Turner concluded there are seven types, or 'patterns', of greenway which he named: parkway, blueway, paveway, glazeway, skyway, ecoway and cycleway.[6]

The European Greenways Association defines it as "communication routes reserved exclusively for non-motorized journeys, developed in an integrated manner which enhances both the environment and quality of life of the surrounding area. These routes should meet satisfactory standards of width, gradient and surface condition to ensure that they are both user-friendly and low-risk for users of all abilities." (Lille Declaration, European Greenways Association, 12 September 2000).

Characteristics
Railway Platforms on Parkland Walk, North London, England

Charles Little describes five general types of greenways:[7]

  • Urban riverside (or other water body) greenways, usually created as part of (or instead of) a redevelopment program along neglected, often run-down, city waterfronts.
  • Recreational greenways, featuring paths and trails of various kinds, often relatively long distance, based on natural corridors as well as canals, abandoned rail beds, and public rights-of-way.
  • Ecologically significant natural corridors, usually along rivers and streams and less often ridgelines, to provide for wildlife migration and species interchange, nature study and hiking.
  • Scenic and Historic routes, usually along a road, highway or waterway, the most representative of them making an effort to provide pedestrian access along the route or at least places to alight from the car.
  • Comprehensive greenway systems or networks, usually based on natural landforms such as valleys or ridges but sometimes simply an opportunistic assemblage of greenways and open spaces of various kinds to create an alternative municipal or regional green infrastructure.

Greenways are vegetated, linear, and multi-purpose. They incorporate a footpath or bikeway within a linear park. In urban design, they are a component of planning for bicycle commuting and walkability.

Greenways are found in rural areas as well as urban. Corridors redeveloped as greenways often travel through both city and country, connecting them together. Even in rural areas, greenways provide residents access to open land managed as parks, as contrasted with land that is vegetated but inappropriate for public use, such as agricultural land. Where the historic rural road network has been enlarged and redesigned to favor high-speed automobile travel, greenways provide an alternative for people who are elderly, young, less mobile or seeking a reflective pace.[8][9]

Greenways are found all over the world. However, most examples are known to be in Europe and North America.

Foreshoreway
Chicago Lakefront Trail

In Australia, a foreshoreway is a greenway that provides a public right-of-way along the edge of the sea, open to both walkers and cyclists.[10] Foreshoreways include oceanways,[11] and resemble promenades and boardwalks.

Foreshoreways are usually concerned with the idea of sustainable transport and the term is used to avoid the suggestion that the route favours either pedestrians (footpath) or cyclists (bikeway). A foreshoreway is accessible to both pedestrians and cyclists and gives them the opportunity to move unimpeded along the seashore. Dead end paths that offer public access only to the ocean are not part of a foreshoreway.

A foreshoreway corridor often includes a number of traffic routes that provide access along an oceanfront,[12] including:

A major example is The Gold Coast Oceanway along beaches in Gold Coast, Queensland, a shared use pedestrian and cyclist pathway on the Gold Coast, connecting the Point Danger lighthouse on the New South Wales and Queensland border to the Gold Coast Seaway. The network includes 36 kilometres (22 mi) of poor, medium and high quality pathways. Others include: The Chicago Lakefront Trail, the Dubai Marina, the East River Greenway, New Plymouth Coastal Walkway, and the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway.

Public rights of way frequently exist on the foreshore of beaches throughout the world. In legal discussions the foreshore is often referred to as the wet-sand area (see Right of way for a fuller discussion).

Notable examples

Asia

Australia

  • Gold Coast Oceanway
  • Cooks River to Iron Cove Greenway[14]

Canada

Europe

New Zealand

United Kingdom

United States

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See also

References
  1. Oxford Dictionary of English
  2. Encyclopedia of Environmental Studies by William Ashworth and Charles E. Little. New York: Facts on File, c1991.
  3. The Ridgeway Project Archived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
  4. Susquehanna Greenway
  5. Tennessee Greenways and Trails: "What is a greenway".
  6. Turner (1995)
  7. Tennessee Greenways and Trails
  8. Natural England
  9. Loh et al.
  10. Foreshoreways of Australia's Gold Coast
  11. Foreshoreways of Australia's Gold Coast
  12. Foreshoreways of Australia's Gold Coast
  13. American Trails: Pearl River Greenway, China
  14. "Greenway Cooks River to Iron Cove". Inner West Council. 2017. Retrieved 30 March 2017.

Sources
  • Fabos, Julius Gy. and Ahern, Jack (Eds.) (1995) Greenways: The Beginning of an International Movement, Elsevier Press
  • Flink, Charles A. & Searns, Robert M. (1993) Greenways A Guide to Planning, Design and Development Island Press
  • Flink, Charles A., Searns, Robert M. & Olka, Kristine (2001) Trails for the Twenty-First Century Island Press. Washington, DC. ISBN 1559638192
  • Hay, Keith G. (1994) "Greenways" The Conservation Fund. Arlington, VA.
  • Little, Charles E. Greenways for America (1990) Johns Hopkins University Press
  • Loh, Tracy Hadden et al. (2012) "Active Transportation Beyond Urban Centers: Walking and Bicycling in Small Towns and Rural America" Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. Washington, DC. (PDF retrieved 15 March 2012.)
  • Natural England Greenways Handbook (PDF retrieved 15 March 2012.)
  • Smith, Daniel S. & Hellmund, Paul Cawood. (1993) Ecology of Greenways: Design and Function of Linear Conservation Areas. University of Minnesota Press
  • Turner, Tom (1995). "Greenways, blueways, skyways and other ways to a better London". Landscape and Urban Planning. 33 (1–3): 269–282. doi:10.1016/0169-2046(94)02022-8.

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