Suspended paths in the parks of the future

It seems that in the future we will no longer be walking through parks and forests on the old gravel-covered dirt paths. In a desire to admire the trees at crown level, but also to protect the habitat as best as possible, plans are afoot to create parks with suspended walkways. It's true that this is not entirely new - about path in a nature reserve in Portugal I wrote not long ago - but compared to what already exists, the new projects, which will be ready soon, look like something out of a sci-fi movie.

As I said, there are places where suspended walkways already exist. Near Cape Town, in Kirstenbosch National Park in South AfricaA 130m-long suspended walkway has been built, winding almost invisibly above the forest. The Boomslang The tree snake - as it has been named - is made of wood and steel and allows the visitor to admire the trees at crown height or even above it. Like a huge snake it ascends and descends, touching the ground at 2 points. It reaches heights of up to 12 meters where the panorama can be admired, then descends to branch level so that the forest and the tree life can be admired.

Another example that already exists is Alexandra Arch and Forest Walkway in Telok Blangah Hill Park in Singapore. Because of the rugged terrain, a very large area of the park was not accessible to the population. A local architectural studio designed a 1.6km-long walkway and an 80m bridge so that people could admire nature's beauty. The steel footbridge rises up to 15 meters, where birds fly above the trees but also descend to ground level. This made nature accessible to all.

If these examples are already impressive, just wait until you see the next ones. Denmark has already unveiled plans for a walkway that will allow hikers to admire the forest without disturbing the environment, to be built atGlisselfeld Kloster, Haslev, one hour from Copenhagen. The project consists of a 600-meter-long walkway that will take visitors from ground level to the height of the treetops, ending with a 45-meter-high spiral observation tower. It will provide a panoramic view of the entire area. In the area of very old trees, the footbridge will pass over the very old trees in an attempt to minimize the impact on the habitat, and will descend to ground level in the area of young trees. The project is expected to be completed in 2018.

Another project that has already been made public is one that will allow residents of Istanbul, Turkey, to spend hours in nature in the most pleasant way possible. Presented as "a love story between people and nature" Parkorman park-forest will allow people to stroll, relax, play and admire the forest from an alleyway at tree crown level. As the forest is 10 km from the city center, the architectural studio was challenged to imagine surprising structures to make the park as attractive as possible. But the main challenge was to leave each tree in its place. Several areas were envisioned - meeting areas, play areas, rest areas - as well as pathways that climb gently from ground level to the treetops or playgrounds high above the ground. The project was unveiled in 2013 and is now ongoing.

Such projects would also fit very well in Bucharest, where the Văcărești delta could be admired and studied without the place suffering. And I'm convinced that such special places exist all over the country, so we only need more projects. 🙂