Boston Redevelopment Authority
Boston, Massachusetts
A civic vision, master plan, and guidelines for development of forty-four acres of "air rights"—essentially, newly found land—above the Masschusetts Turnpike in downtown Boston.
Recognition
- Congress for the New Urbanism—2001 Charter Award
- American Institute of Architects—2001 Honor Award for Regional and Urban Design
- Boston Society of Architects—2001 Urban Design Award
- American Planning Association, Massachusetts Chapter—2000 Award for Comprehensive Planning
Project Highlights
- The Massachusetts Turnpike—which controls the right to build above the highway as in eight of Boston's most diverse and active neighborhoods—had begun designating developers to build on these "air rights" without public consultation. Responding to residents' anger, the mayor and turnpike chairman agreed to a joint planning process that would involve representatives of the neighborhoods and citywide interests.
- The city hired Goody Clancy and its interdisciplinary team to work with the advisory committee. Extensive community participation—more than 25 public meetings and 100 small workshops held in neighborhood and citywide venues—guided creation of a master plan with a foucs on strengthening quality of life and vitality in neighborhoods adjacent to the turnpike.
Strategy:
- Create a vision that fosters increased capacity and use of public transportation and discourages reliance on automobiles, while improving the pedestrian realm.
- Reconnect the public realm, divided by the turnpike, with new links to Boston's park system; enhance civic design quality by removing the visual impact of the highway; and bolster neighborhood connections with newly walkable streets lined with shops, cafes, and other pedestrian spaces.
- Provide a mix of housing opportunities.
- Create a nationally significant science and technology center.
- Establish important cultural facilities facing the Charles River.
The City of Boston and the Turnpike Authority adopted the Civic Vision as a template for future air rights development. Neighborhoods across the city supported the vision and plan. The guidelines have been used by subsequent advisory committees to guide development of air rights parcels; Goody Clancy has served as urban design advisor for two such committees.
"[A Civic Vision for Turnpike Air Rights in Boston] is remarkable for the process, in which a very diverse group of stakeholders with radically different perspectives came together, over time, to agree on a document that has been adopted by the city as a template for future development."
Congress for the New Urbanism Charter Award Jury