The Boston 2000 Plan was adopted by the City in 1991 as the master plan for the Central Artery air rights from Causeway Street to Kneeland Street. The Plan established broad principles for the development of the air rights—the 27 acres of land that emerged once the elevated highway was dismantled, now known as the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway. It devotes seventy-five percent of the land to open space and public facilities, with the remaining twenty-five percent designated for commercial and residential uses.
The Plan called for new neighborhood parks in the North End and Chinatown, a major new open space in the waterfront area, and a horticultural facility in the Financial District/Dewey Square area, as well as housing and commercial development sites in the North End, Chinatown, and Bulfinch Triangle.
In 2004, the non-profit Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy was founded to maintain and operate the Greenway parks. Visit their website www.rosekennedygreenway.org to learn more about their mission, events, and programs.
The BRA has helped to create use and design guidelines that were incorporated into each of MassDOT’s Requests for Proposals that have led to the selection of developers for the residential and commercial development sites (including the Bulfinch Triangle parcels as well as Parcel 9, which will soon be developed as a hotel with ground floor market-related retail that will enhance the strength of the existing Market District.)
In 2009, the BRA initiated the Greenway District Planning Study, which studied the future development potential for the parcels adjacent to the Greenway. Please see the Greenway District Planning Study page for more information.