Every city needs parks, but how about those highly developed cities like New York City, London, Hong Kong? It is impossible to squeeze and create a green park from their exiting dense contexts. The April issue of the National Geographic magazine features a really neat piece on how an abandoned rail line in New York City became an elevated park known as the High Line. In “Miracle Above Manhattan“, the story of how an urban relic evolved into one of the city’s major tourist attractions is profiled, including how an unusually sophisticated concept for a public space made its way through the design process, the political process, and the construction process.

April cover of National Geographic, courtesy National Geographic

Photograph by Diane Cook and Len Jenshel, all the photos here are featured in the April 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine, please visit http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/04/ny-high-line/cook-photography for photo gallery, article and video of this project.

Image courtesy Diane Cook and Len Jenshel/National Geographic

The High Line once stretched farther into lower Manhattan, often passing right through factories. That southernmost section was torn down in the 1960s, long before any thought of turning the line into a park.

Image courtesy Diane Cook and Len Jenshel/National Geographic

The Caledonia, with its walls of glass, is one of many apartment houses newly constructed along the High Line.

Image courtesy Diane Cook and Len Jenshel/National Geographic

The unrenovated northern portion of the High Line turns westward, bringing the structure almost to the Hudson River. The rail company CSX still owns the section, but Friends of the High Line hope one day it will be part of the park. If that happens, the Fourth of July view witnessed by a staff member from the group and her companion could be enjoyed by many New Yorkers.