Abandoned Tramway Converted to Park, Turin, Italy, 2020

What originated as a tactical urbanism effort over an abandoned tram line in Turin, a city in northern Italy, has now become a more permanent park. Extending over 500 meters, or about one third of a mile, from Piazza Hermada to the Regina Margherita Bridge along Corso Gabetti, Precollinear Park is a new linear tree-lined green space, enriching the surrounding Precollina neighborhood that sits between the Po River and the foothills on the eastern edge of Turin.

Operated by Torino Stratosferica, a local cultural association, Precollinear Park employs many basic elements of an urban greenspace, like flower pots, chairs, benches, pallets, and a garden, along with an open-air exhibition and a shipping container that has a café and information desk. The park has been approved through September 2021 and will likely remain open to the public beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.

Credit: Luca Vanzella/Google Maps

Credit: Luca Vanzella/Google Maps

The establishment of Precollinear Park coincides with two trends occurring in many urban areas:

1. The conversion of old train lines into parks, such as the High Line in New York City, the 606/Bloomingdale Trail in Chicago, and the BeltLine in Atlanta.
2. The reclamation of streets and underutilized spaces for pedestrians during the COVID-19 pandemic, giving people the opportunity to social distance while recreating in the urban outdoors.

Precollinear Park can serve as an example as to how cities and private organizations can look to inexpensively convert spaces not originally intended for pedestrians into safer and more enjoyable places; original costs for the park started at about 18,000 euros (or $22,000) and now has the hopes of becoming permanent.

Last updated March 1, 2021