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London is set to emulate New York’s Highline with its own version running from Camden to St Pancras. Here’s everything you need to know about the £14m project
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 15 Feb 2023
London is set to get its own version of the Highline as early as 2025 Credit: Camden Highline
Plans to emulate New York’s iconic Highline in the UK have been approved, with a disused railway track in London set to be converted into a linear park.
Dubbed the Camden Highline, the project in the British capital will transform around 1.2km (0.75m) of old track into a walking attraction.
The path will run from Camden Gardens to York Way, close to St Pancras station - a major transport hub for the city - and it’s hoped more than 2.5 million people a year will use it.
Last month, approval was granted for the project’s first section, which will run from Camden Gardens to Royal College Street.
The first phase will include commercial kiosks housed underneath the garden inside the former railway arches. The track on the bridge itself will become a path and garden with event spaces and a woodland balcony.
“Camden is a unique and vibrant place and we’ve designed the Camden Highline to embrace this special character,” said James Corner of landscape architecture firm Field Operations.
“It will serve as a green connective thread, biodiversity corridor and a community amenity. It will be budding with opportunities for arts and culture, and an essential space for young people to examine and learn about nature. Camden Highline is an extraordinary urban project and exactly the type of forward thinking, inclusive project that might help to bring us together in trying times.”
A charity has been established for the development of the Camden Highline, with £14m (US$16.8m, €15.7m) needed to meet first phase costs.
In addition to creating a brand new tourist attraction for the city, it will also offer new green space to around 20,000 local people.
“The Camden Highline has captured local imaginations,” said London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan.
“It urges us to broaden the horizons of what’s possible within our cities and is exactly the sort of innovative, environmentally sustainable, and community-driven project which will continue to benefit and inspire generations to come.
“This vision will also bring huge enterprise opportunities to local small businesses, helping to build a better, greener, and more prosperous London for everyone. I look forward to following the Camden Highline on its journey and to walking in London’s own park in the sky.”
Once enough money has been raised to start construction, it’s hoped the first section of the Camden Highline will be open by 2025.
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