ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst

Title

Green Infrastructure for Framingham, Massachusetts: Greenway Planning and Cultural Landscape Design

Authors

Aqsa Butt, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Justin Cooper, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Matthew Crosby, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Elyse Couture, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Valerie DeGroote, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Andrew Duncan, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Caroline Fay, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Adam Fearing, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Russell Greene, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Mark Gullifer, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Bladimir Hernandez, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Daniel Keirstead, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Christopher Johnson, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
John Milos, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Jing Pan, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow
Benjamin Perrett, University of Massachusetts - AmherstFollow
Rebecca Jean Walton, University of Massachusetts- AmherstFollow

Publication Date

Spring 2015

Comments

University of Massachusetts- Amherst

Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional Planning

Spring, 2015

LandArch 494LI: Senior Capstone Studio

Green Infrastructure for Framingham, Massachusetts:

Greenway Planning and Cultural Landscape Design

Instructors:

Robert L. Ryan

315 Hills North, 545-6633, rlryan@larp.umass.edu

Peter Flinker, Dodson & Flinker

Teaching Assistant: Alyssandra Black

Abstract

The senior undergraduate, Bachelors of Landscape Architecture studio at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst developed a town-wide greenway plan for the Town of Framingham’s Department of Community and Economic Development. This conceptual plan connects the town’s natural, cultural, and recreational resources through a network of pedestrian and bike trails. This plan also seeks to connect the diverse neighborhoods within the Town to these resources and provide alternative means of local residents to access jobs, schools, and retail centers. The greenway plan builds on Framingham’s Open Space and Recreation Plan (2013), which identified the need for a regional greenway system to link the town to the many local and regional recreational, cultural, ecological, and economic resources.

This capstone planning and design studio began with an analysis and assessment of the Town of Framingham’s natural, recreational, cultural, and transportation/land use resources. Teams of students developed alternative greenway plans for the town and region, respectively. These plans were synthesized halfway through the class to produce the composite greenway plan shown in this report. For the second half of the class, individual students developed neighborhood and site specific greenway and park designs for key linkages within the greenway network in the rural northeast section of Framingham, industrial village of Saxonville, historic Framingham Center, the Tech Park, and downtown Framingham. These detailed designs form the body of this report.