The High Line: Non Profit Conservancy In New York (Essay Sample)

THE HIGH LINE
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The High Line
Introduction
The historic park located in New York was founded in 1999. Currently, the non-profit conservancy in New York works closely with the city’s department of recreation to ensure that the natural beauty of the High Line is maintained daily. The community sacrificed in terms of maintaining and running the operations of the public park. Moreover, they were responsible for soliciting private funds in order to ensure a solid running budget for the High Line. The park currently runs from Gansevoort Street to West 34th Street. This paper will strive to analyze the High Line using the six systems outlined in the book. They include energy, mobility, waste, water, food, and material. It will also analyze development of neighborhood and extrapolate how urban phenomenon has evolved over time due to socioeconomic, political environmental impacts.[Joshua David and Robert Hammond, High Line: The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011), 34.]
Energy
As the population of High Line’s visitors continues to grow each day, the demand for energy also increases, which forces the designers of the park to be innovative in order to provide sustainable energy sources. One of the largest sources of energy being used in the site is electricity, which is converted to other different forms of energy. The inventive lighting system in the High Line creates a unique spectacular view of the park, which also enhances its attractiveness to both the local and international tourists.
L’Observatoire International designed the lighting technology with the use of energy-efficient LED lighting system that is installed slightly below the waist-level to irradiate the pathways without forming overhead glare.The LED lights emanating from the handrail lighten both the walkway and the adjacent green space, where it invites visitors to contentedly enjoy nature within the city. Apart from the lighting system, the community around the park utilizes other forms of energy such as solar to power their devices.[Jennette Mullaney, “Illuminating the High Line.” Friends of the High Line. 21 May 2014, /blog/2014/05/21/illuminating-the-high-line]
Mobility
With the advent of technology and infrastructure, different forms of transport have been invented to increase mobility of people. However, as the demand for efficient modes of transport increases, the carbon footprint in various regions has continued to grow. For instance, as the number of vehicles continues to increase to meet the demand of consumers, the rate of air pollution has increased significantly, leading to global warming and climate change. However, the type of mobility within the High Line Park is eco-friendly since most of the visitors walk to various sceneries. The elevated pathways in the park cannot allow the free movement of vehicles, since they were primarily designed for nature walks.The public can now stroll all the way from the Southern part of the park at Gansevoort to the Northern terminus at 12th Avenue. On the other hand, the original railroad trails from the earlier structure have been retained while the steel elements such as the spectacular art deco railings have been renovated. A cohesive system of concrete alleyways, seating spaces, and special structures blend with natural planting areas to form singularly astonishing landscape. However, there are parking spaces beneath the elevated pathways that can accommodate motor vehicles.[David and Hammond, 45 Joshua David and Robert Hammond, High Line: The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011), 34.] [Ibid, 46]
Waste
The High Line has been at the forefront of improving its waste management system in order to enhance its sustainability. In line with its goal to be a high-efficient waste management system, the park has implemented on-site composting services that allow it to develop a large portion of its garden waste into compost. The composting program at the park is important to the community since it helps them prevent the amount of compostable material that might flow to the waste stream. Moreover, it ensures the reprocessed essential nutrients are ploughed to the soil at the garden to eliminate use of commercial fertilizer. Converting High Line’s garden waste into compost also enables the park to reduce its carbon footprint since it lessens the need to damp the waste into the environment.[Friends of the High Line, “Sustainable Practices.” Friends of the High Line, Accessed 26 June 2017, /about/sustainable-practices]
Water
One of the most fundamental aspects in the design of High Line is the manner in which it is maintained and managed daily to sustain its ecosystem and the community around it. It is imperative for the site’s management to endeavor towards sustainability with the similar level of care that was used to design the park. This explains why a lot of effort has been geared towards water conservation. The most evident technology employed to achieve this goal is the High Line's green roof system that has been designed with drip irrigation to enable the planting beds to preserve the maximum amount of water.Since most of the plant species in High Line are drought-tolerant, they only require a little amount of water.[Friends of the High Line, “Sustainable Practices.” Friends of the High Line, Accessed 26 June 2017, /about/sustainable-practices]
The park has a complex drainage system that plays a fundamental role in helping the park reduce the storm water overflow and keep its planting beds in healthy condition. The park’s landscape has introduced the green roof technology, which has essential ecological benefits. These include an 80 percent decrease in the storm-water runoff and an intercession of the "heat island" impact formed by the shiny city surfaces.The green roof technology also gives rise to a healthy vegetative cover that creates a cool shade, adequate oxygen, and a natural habitat for insects and birds. The conservation of moisture in the soil within the park is of great concern to the management of the High Line. In essence, an average soil depth on the site of more than 18 inches. In fact, the shallow depth is 8 inches while the deepest is around 36 inches. The deep side is found near the 23rd Street Lawn. Conservation of water is necessary based on the low soil depth. Actually, it is important to conserve water in order to create balance in the soil and avoid oversaturation.[Ibid] [Ibid]
On the other hand, the concrete pathway system that one may find throughout the High Line was planned to decrease the overflow or runoff of storm water and reduce the quantity of water used for watering the park’s vegetative cover. These pathways were designed with open-jointed concrete beams that can enable rainwater to infiltrate the planks and drain into the nearby planting beds.The holed metal panels are necessary in order to allow the rain water to drain well into the plants. Therefore, the panels are positioned at the walkways between the planting beds. Additionally, the strategic position of the drainage system at low points in the park’s planting beds implies that the absorption of water into the beds can be achieved when it is needed. It also means that the excess water can be drained out when the soil is oversaturated.[Friends of the High Line, “Sustainable Practices.” Friends of the High Line, Accessed 26 June 2017, /about/sustainable-practices]
Proper measures are implemented under the topsoil to increase water drainage and reduce to eliminate the run-off. Such measures are also essential in order to enable plant survival. After putting the preliminary topsoil, the designers incorporate a thick layer of specially combined coarse clay.The subsoil is protected through a screen material, which reduces the impact of runoff. Ultimately, it helps to eliminate the chances of drainage clogging. When the filter fabric has been installed successfully, a drainage mat that contains crushed gravel is laid on top. The importance of the process is to impede flow of excess water into the sewer.[Friends of the High Line, “Sustainable Practices.” Friends of the High Line, Accessed 26 June 2017, /about/sustainable-practices]
Food
As the population of visitors in the High Line continues to grow daily, the demand for food also increases. A few food joints are found at the park in which people can taste some delicacies as they watch the beautiful sceneries at site. One of the restaurants found at the venue is known as Santina and is owned Major Food Group.The restaurant is situated beneath the High Line at Washington and Gansevoort Street. The rooftop gardens that characterize High Line structures may also provide suitable avenues for cultivating food crops to sustain the local community. The natural ecological systems consisting of water, soil, and oxygen are vital for the production of essential foodstuff needed in High Line. Some of the restaurants in the area, such as People’s Pops are known to change the locally grown fruits in the area into healthy hand-made pops for consumption. The restaurants in the High Line offer healthy menu items that free from genetically modified substances.  [Joshua David and Robert Hammond, High Line: The Inside Story of New York City's Park in the Sky (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011), 34.]
Material
The High Line community together with the friends of the park is dedicated to avoiding the utilization of pesticides and other toxic chemicals in the lands whenever possible. The management of the park encourages the use of sound horticultural practices and the selection of well-adapted plant life to propagate on the High Line. T...