New York's City Hall has given the go-ahead for the Lowline underground park, which aims to emulate the success of the city's elevated High Line (+ slideshow).
Billed as the world's first underground park, the scheme proposes transforming a section of a former trolley terminal in Manhattan's Lower East Side into a public space.
It will be located below Delancey Street, between Clinton Street and Norfolk Street, at the west end of the Williamsburg Bridge.

Creators James Ramsey and Daniel Barasch have been granted control of the space, and can now develop their design and continue efforts to raise the $60 million (£45 million) needed for construction.
"The transformation of an old, forgotten trolley terminal into a dynamic cultural space designed for a 21st century city is truly a New York story," said Barasch. "We know with input from the community and the city, we can make the Lowline a unique, inspiring space that everyone can enjoy." Conditions that come with the approval include the implementation of a community engagement plan, raising $10 million and the completion of schematic design documents within the next 12 months.

The Lowline's premise is an inverse version of the High Line, which first opened in 2009 along a section of disused industrial railway on the other side of Manhattan and is now a major tourist attraction.
It will add an acre (0.4 hectares) of public space to the Lower East Side neighbourhood, which is currently experiencing a ...