Urban Renewal

Abstract

project. F restoration projects have assumed a civic dimension as broad as that of the recent woodlands revival in New York’s Central Park. From removing political roadblocks to surviving public scrutiny to handling an eager but diverse corps of volunteers, park planners faced tremendous challenges that required innovative responses. Rather than a restoration to a precontact landscape, the Central Park woodlands project sought to renew the magnificent urban plan of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who designed the park in the mid-1800s. Their original intent--to create rural tranquillity among the chaos of the city--guided each phase of the restoration.