Proposed in 1982, the Central Artery/Tunnel Project (unofficially known as the “Big Dig”) is one of the most ambitious urban design initiatives ever undertaken in an American city. Design and construction began in 1991 and lasted sixteen years. Over this time, a 3.5 mile stretch of I-93 running through the heart of downtown Boston was dismantled and reconstructed within a series of tunnels running beneath the city. The space left by the former highway is today home to a series of linear parks collectively known as the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway.

Each space within the linear Greenway – Chinatown Park, Dewey Square, the Fort Point Channel Parks and Urban Arboretum, the Wharf District Parks, Armenian Heritage Park, and the North End Parks – has its own unique spatial vocabulary and feel. Together they have transformed the character of Boston and provided a major step forward in making Boston one of the most pedestrian-friendly cities in the country.