London's High Line will reflect New York inspiration, with local accents
The abandoned railway bridge stretches across a busy north London street, where green foliage peeks from the gaps between the beams overhead, where bright blue paint peels off rusting steel.
Farther east, grand Victorian-era arches span a small patch of parkland wedged between two streets, where homeless tents, a discarded mattress and broken bottles lie strewn about.
Although the elevated railway line and some of the areas running through it may look neglected now, if all goes according to plan it will become the site of the Camden High Line, a planned public park that aims to transform this unused part of the city into a new to give life. into a flourishing green space.
“They're all unloved bits of Camden,” says Simon Pitkeathley, the CEO of Camden Town Unlimited, the business improvement district behind the initiative, of the areas that will one day provide ground-level entrances to the High Line.
Strolling along the route of the planned park, which is located some 7.5 meters above the streets, you will get a different view of London. Up here, the air feels fresher and the hustle and bustle below disappears as the view stretches across a patch of North London full of houses and office buildings.
The backers of the Camden High Line project, which carries an estimated price tag of £35 million (about $44.5 million), hope it will one day become a vibrant attraction for tourists and locals alike, providing much-needed foot traffic will come to the area. just like its New York namesake does in the Chelsea neighborhood.
Rather than any attempt to disguise its inspiration, London's high-line will have deliberate echoes of New York's hugely successful one.
This too uses a railway line that has been empty for decades, about thirty years in the case of the Camden line.
During a recent walk along the planned route, Mr Pitkeathley pointed out a brick arch through which a sleek staircase will eventually rise, taking visitors to the elevated park. Design drawings show Londoners strolling along leafy walkways, past flower gardens and viewing platforms where they can admire the streetscape.
The planned width of the Camden High Line varies enormously along the route, expanding by more than 20 meters in some areas that were previously full platforms, while shrinking to less than 3 meters in other sections.
The project's design team was led by James Corner Field Operations, the lead architectural firm for the New York High Line, and worked with other designers and London-based social enterprises who helped consult with residents on their vision for the park.
So while the links to the original High Line are clear – and hopes for the same success are paramount – the design has been adapted to serve the neighborhood where it is located, Mr Pitkeathley said.
There are a number of differences, including an active railway line that runs directly past where the park will one day unfold.
Much of the surrounding area through which the route passes is state-owned land, filled with affordable housing, so both affluent and lower-income Londoners will benefit from the proximity to the new green space, Mr Pitkeathley said.
But it will be some time before Londoners and visitors can enjoy the park.
Planning permission was granted in January 2023 for the first section, which runs from Camden Gardens eastwards to Royal College Street.
Construction won't begin until late 2025, and the first section of the High Line is expected to open in early 2027, he added. Two additional sections are still years away.
Money is still being raised, and Mr Pitkeathley would not say how much remained to be raised.
But when the entire project is completed it will move three-quarters of a mile east of Camden Town, already a popular destination, to King's Cross, a transport hub and the site of another urban regeneration project.
The plan for the Camden High Line has already been welcomed by lawmakers and conservation groups, including Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London; Keir Starmer, the leader of the opposition Labor Party; and the National Trust. But it is the views of people living locally that were at the heart of the planning team.
Lyn Walls, 57, lives in the Maiden Lane Estate, a residential complex with a mix of public and private housing, adjacent to where the easternmost part of the new park will eventually be built. For now, the only walkway connecting her home to the area immediately to the west is a graffiti-strewn, dimly lit path.
The Camden High Line will eventually provide a walkable connection to neighborhoods to the west, she said. Currently, Ms. Walls usually takes the long detour when she walks there, she said, because of a remote passageway that currently connects the two areas.
“Going that way just isn't attractive; it needs more lighting and just more people using it,” she said. The High Line, she added, “will make such a difference.”
On a recent winter afternoon, she walked her dog with her two grandchildren and her daughter-in-law on an enclosed basketball court on the complex's grounds. While there are a handful of green space in the area, Ms. Walls said the addition of the High Line would add much-needed park space.
At a cafe on the west side of the High Line's route, Kiran Duggal, 25, and Barnaby Fishwick, 20, drank coffee in the sunshine of a mild winter afternoon.
The friends, who work in a nearby pub, both said they were excited about the possibility of more greenery and better walking routes.
“That will make life so much easier,” said Ms Duggal, who lamented the lack of a good walkable route connecting the eastern and western parts of this part of London.
“There are so many dead spots in north London,” Mr Fishwick said, adding that he was keen to see the new park come to life. “I just love a good walk.”