Arabic

Professor Jon Lang

University of New South Wales, Australia

Waterfronts design as a catalyst for urban redevelopment: Battery Park City, New York

Battery Park City on the Lower Manhattan Hudson River waterfront is now a major asset to the city of New York. It was not always expected to be that way. Its development took place over a period of almost forty years of ups and downs, changing urban design paradigms, and changing fortunes in the economy of New York. The character of Battery Park City today reflects the political disputes that occurred at the intersection of design ideas and the demands of state and city governments for various different building type mixes. Throughout the period stretching from the1960s to the 2005 the goal was to have a high quality design that would provide more housing opportunities near Wall Street. To ensure design quality considerable attention was paid to the design of the waterfront promenade itself. It acted not only as a catalyst to encourage development but also as a catalyst for design quality. Today, Battery Park city is an example of a scheme with a lively water front presence, a set of bold foreground buildings – the World Financial Center – supported by a backdrop of neo-traditional apartment buildings designed following strong guidelines. In tax-revenues Battery Park City yields a substantial return to New York City each year.