February 2020

Page 42

I train station

By: Jimena Martignoni Train Station Park (Parque de la Estación), located in a central residential area of the City of Buenos Aires, is the result of a participatory planning process carried out by the local community and the City Government. The City of Buenos Aires is divided into 15 districts, called “comunas”, each one of them identified with a number. It was on the border between two of those quarters (Comuna 3 and Comuna 5), that a vacant area with an abandoned warehouse was chosen by the community as a potential new small park and a place for multiple educational public activities. The lot, owned by the national train operating company, was adjacent to the railways of one of the local urban lines and the warehouse had been formerly used for truck loading and unloading operations and storing. Back in 2000 this group of people, whose homes are located in both districts but equally close to the abandoned lot, got together with the clear purpose of transforming the site. It was not until 2014 that they accomplished their goal of converting the original land use, which transformed the area’s zoning from one for Future Urbanization to one for Park Uses. Following this significant step, a bill was introduced in the City Legislature for further discussion and debate, gaining

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A Park for the People, by the People In Buenos Aires, an abandoned warehouse and land adjacent to an urban rail-line are transformed into a community park and cultural spaces, with the help of local residents.


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