Rose Kennedy Greenway District Study
Boston, Massachusetts
The Boston Redevelopment Authority retained Ken Greenberg with Utile Inc. from Boston in 2009 to prepare a Planning Study for the creation of a Rose Kennedy Greenway District in Downtown Boston to guide the extraordinary process of change surrounding the site of the Big Dig and the formation of the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The intention was to work with the BRA to develop zoning and development guidelines for the area intended to ensure that the Greenway District is the most sustainable downtown in the country with a primary emphasis on the built environment and the public realm. Two priorities emerged through this study. The first was to understand the potential impacts of new development on the Rose Kennedy Greenway to ensure that a new regulatory framework will conserve the environmental and social benefits of the open space network for future generations. The second was to understand and recommend new development that may enhance the Greenway and surrounding neighborhoods by mitigating wind conditions, creating new active built edges, and new constituencies for the parks including:
The best mix of office, residential and hotel functions on the upper floors of buildings to ensure an active 24/7 Greenway District
The accommodation of restaurants that can support outdoor cafes in development projects on the north side of the Greenway (to take advantage of south facing frontage)
The accommodation of additional front doors (for both building lobbies and retail) along the Greenway to activate the edges of the parks
The shaping of the ground level of new development projects to enhance existing pedestrian networks in terms of environmental quality and richness of experience
Recommendations frame both a set of constraints that protect specific existing assets and opportunities to enrich and enliven the urban realm.