Bottom-Up Urban Innovation and Growth through Social Technologies

Abstract

This paper aims to outline new and growing intersections between design innovation, social media and grassroots reclamations of abandoned, under-utilized, or neglected urban spaces, with a particular focus on New York City. Three projects of focus include the High Line, a fully functioning public park on the west side of Manhattan, converted from an abandoned, elevated freight line; +Pool, a proposed engineering strategy that uses new filtration technology to construct a river-filtering floating pool in waters around Manhattan; and finally, the Lowline, a proposed subterranean park that collects natural sunlight through remote skylights and transmits it to underground spaces through fiber optic cable, allowing for photosynthesis and plant growth. While the High Line is the only realized project of the three, all have valuable social and urban similarities that reflect a common thread of grassroots innovation. Recognizing the social potential in neglected elements of the city, the visionaries and leaders behind these projects, fought and are fighting to create life, social function and vitality in what have been underused or unusable parts of New York.