Chicago Riverwalk Research Paper

Last year in anticipation of the crowds that were expected to descend upon the city for the Chicago Architectural Biennial, Mayor Rahm Emanuel dedicated four signature public spaces. The Riverwalk, a modern addition to the Beaux Arts retaining wall along the Chicago River; the 606, a winningly un-slick 2.7-mile bike trail and chain of narrow parks that slices through four neighborhoods on the city's Northwest Side; Maggie Daley Park, a kid-centric pleasure ground of more than 25 acres just east of Millennium Park; and the southern part of Northerly Island, a 40-acre ecological showcase of man-made hills, a lagoon, and campgrounds that's a short cab ride away from the Loop.

The three-block-long, $110 million extension of the Riverwalk is the most prominent and the most successful--example of this upgrade. Set on the lower level of double-deck Wacker Drive the absence of a walking path beneath the river's bascule bridges rendered the riverfront even less appealing, forcing strollers to climb stairs to the upper-level of Wacker Drive, cross a city street, and then descend in order to get from one section of the

In place of the airport and it's pancake-flat landscape, A group of architects and engineers designed man-made hills, a five-acre lagoon, and a winding mile-long path for bikes, strollers, and bird watchers. Fish already are spawning in the wetlands. Great blue herons are there too. Soon city kids will be able to camp in the park. In his great 1909 Plan of Chicago, Burnham wrote, "the lakefront by right belongs to the people." It is amazing that his words continue to inform and inspire Chicago's latest crop of public spaces.

The Riverwalk, the 606, Maggie Daley Park, and Northerly Island are all great upgrades that chicago needed. Know with more spaces to walk, run, have with friends and family, play , and even a spot to go camping in the city chicago has become just a little bit