Like people, beautiful parks come in all shapes and sizes. Here are five urban parks that enhance their surroundings by sprouting up where you’d least expect them.

Cities are constantly changing. Businesses open and close. New buildings constructed while old ones are torn down. While exciting, this dynamic often leaves ugly gaps and holes. Vacant lots. Empty storefronts. Abandoned train tracks.

For many, these less-than-beautiful cityscapes are just the price of progress. For others, they represent unique opportunities to reintroduce the healing power of nature into the otherwise gray reality of city life. Now, more than ever, designers and architects are working to reclaim these abandoned areas, infusing them with life, both literally and figuratively.

If you’ve ever thought that moving to the big city meant giving up access to real grass, flowers, and fruit trees, here are five stunning urban parks that prove you can have both.

1. The High Line – NYC

Cities don’t have a lot of extra space, so creating a new park often means getting creative. The High Line is a public park built on a historic freight rail line elevated above the streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is owned by the City of New York, and maintained and operated by dedicated citizens and donors. A stroll through the park allows visitors to enjoy many species of perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees. Many of the self-seeded species that originally grew on the High Line’s abandoned rail bed were incorporated into the park that their presence inspired.

2. Lost River Park – Seoul

It seems crazy, but city planners in Seoul, South Korea, once opted to bury a pristine river under a highway rather than find a different way around. For 30 years, the Cheonggyecheon Stream lay forgotten under a multi-lane freeway. Then, in 2003, officials decided to tear down the highway and restore the stream to its rightful place in the sun. In what has become Seoul’s “Lost River Park” visitors can now enjoy the more than twenty beautiful bridges that cross the stream. And according to Inhabitat, “over 75% of the material torn down from the old highway was reused to construct the urban park and rehabilitate the stream.”

3. Paddington Reservoir Gardens – Sydney

Australia is mostly desert, so water was very important to early settlers. A reservoir built on Sydney’s east side was a vital source of water for the rapidly growing city during the 19th century. It stopped supplying water in 1899, and went through a bit of an identity crisis–including stints as a gas station and a garage. In 2009, it reopened as the Paddington Reservoir Gardens, a unique urban park that some have called “a blend of the ancient Baths of Caracalla in Rome and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.” Original brick, timber and iron fixtures were included in the upcycled design. Visitors can also check out a sunken garden on the roof, and vibrant graffiti art in the eastern chamber.

4. Eco-Park – Governor’s Island

Once a defunct military base, Governor’s Island is in the process of an eco-friendly transformation. An investment of more than $250 million from the Bloomberg Administration will turn this previously ignored island into an urban explorer’s paradise. New features will include Liggett Terrace: a sunny, six acre plaza that features moveable seating, public art, water features and seasonal plantings; Hammock Grove: 10 acres with 1,500 new trees and hammocks (sounds ama-zing); and complimentary wooden bicycles with which visitors can cruise the winding paths of the park. And that’s only a fraction of the new amenities.

5. Rail Overpass Public Garden & Orchard – Edmonton

It doesn’t look like much in the image above, but that dirty little overpass is about to become one of the city’s newest urban parks. Left over from a time when Edmonton was one of the busiest rail hubs in Canada, the “old overpass connecting 97th Street to Edmonton’s downtown rail yards has morphed into a poorly finished, unattractive concrete pedestrian walkway and bicycle path” reports ArchPaper.com. Now, three local female artists, with the help of a volunteer crew, will upgrade the bridge into an open public garden complete with edible crops from which visitors can actually pick fruit.

Images: HighLine.org, Iwan Baan, Inhabitat, newtown_grafitti, Governor’s Island Park, Google Maps

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Montreal bred Tara St. James is a stand out designer in the sustainable design field – simply for her passion for fabric and how it can be manipulated.

Fabric doesn’t get enough attention for all its textural qualities and its inherent ability to be worked into an inspired design, so I applaud Tara for seeing the forest for the trees.

Her label Study, is a pretty transparent evolution of a designer pushing her own line to its limits when it comes to shape, function, form and design.

On her blog she writes: “There’s something to be said about new fabric development. A satisfaction in knowing where the yarn comes from, how it was spun and then woven (or knit) and how it was transported to the U.S. Something to be said for transparency along the supply chain. And it’s really exciting to see what is being done with organic and sustainable fibers these days.”

I feel like I need to read her blog more and focus on the trials and tribulations (also the rewards) of being a designer in today’s market. She has her finger on a real live pulse right now.

In addition to being a great and truly artistic designer that you can check out at Ecosalon Shops! on June 4th in NYC, you can also see her work in an exhibit being featured at Green Spaces called (Re) Fashioning Fiber – New Horizons in Environmental Art and Fashion. The group exhibition examines “New ways of thinking about fiber in relation to the natural environment, our patterns of consumption, and contemporary definitions of fashioning self.”

This is where St. James shines.

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Hey there, lady readers! For over two years, we’ve been bringing you stories about the stylish side of sustainable living. We’ve been chatting, we’ve been tweeting, we’ve been friending something fierce – but we’ve never met in person! It’s time, don’t you think?

Join EcoSalon’s EIC Sara Ost, Fashion Editor Amy DuFault, and a host of other EcoSalon writers when we host our first ever event, EcoSalon Shops! at Green Spaces on June 4, 2010, from 7 p.m.-10 p.m. at their 394 Broadway, New York, NY location.

Our susty soiree will be haven to 20 sustainable clothing and accessories designers including Lara Miller, Study by Tara St. James and Cri De Coeur shoes, four eco-boutiques, Buddha Nose organic body care and A Perfume Organic. Designers from all the lines will be on hand to chat with you as you peruse new looks and try on your favorites.

You should come prepared to shop, mingle, sample sustainable goodies and organic cocktails – and participate in a Twitter #FollowFriday eco-fashion tweet up.

In addition to shopping, Save The Garment Center’s Erica Wolf will be on hand with Save The Garment Center t-shirts to answer your questions about the status of New York City’s historic Garment Center and how you can help the cause. Though there won’t be an admission fee to the event, we do suggest making a donation to our friends at Save the Garment Center.

Whether you’re in the market for a sexy strappy number or a new pair of kicks, you can do it all in eco style with us as we toast to green fashion with delicious organic wine, Divine Chocolate and Fair Vodka, and much more. Swag bags filled with sustainable gifts are available for the first 50 shoppers. Throughout May, we’ll be featuring all the participants for EcoSalon Shops!, and answering any questions you may have about the event, so stay tuned. (You can also bookmark this post for daily updates about each designer.)

For more info, check out some of the designers we’ll be showcasing:

• H. Fredriksson
• Feral Childe
• Ecowrist
• Doucette Duvall
• Divine Chocolate
• Fair. Vodka
• Cri de Coeur
• Buddha Nose
• A Perfume Organic
• Ryann
• Lara Miller
• NatureVsFuture
• Rebecka Froberg
• RESTORE
• Tara St. James’ Study
• T-Luxe Lingerie
• Zhena’s Gypsy Tea
• Foundfuture
• Juno & Jove
• Mission Savvy
• Feisty Elle

We can’t wait to meet!

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In a nation embracing all things green, it was just a matter of time before outdoor places – ranging from parks, parking lots and transport corridors to family homes and university and corporate campuses –  ended up with a “green” rating system similar to LEED for buildings and  energy star ratings for appliances (and even churches).

Three years of research by teams of landscape architects, ecologists and engineers from the American Society of Landscape Architects, the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C. and the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center at the University of Texas-Austin have resulted in the Sustainable Sites Initiative. It’s a 179-page report that includes voluntary national guidelines and performance benchmarks for creating sustainable landscapes.

The SSI is offers a four star rating system for landscapes based on a 250-point scale that measures all actions encouraging regeneration, improving and maintaining ecosystems, supporting sustainability and minimizing water and pesticide use.

To test this rating system, the SSI is currently looking for pilot projects. Any kind of designed landscape of 2000 square feet or more is eligible.

But while the Sustainable Site Initiative and rating system sounds like it’s only aimed at large scale public developments, guidelines and principles can be incorporated by anyone, including homeowners, who are developing or re-landscaping outdoor areas.

For those wanting to create their own sustainable garden, here are some helpful tips to get you started.

1. Create soil-enriching compost from food scraps, newspapers, garden pruning and grass-clippings.

2. Replace “thirsty” plants with indigenous, natives and exotic plants. These plants not only require less care and less water, but also have more resistance to harsh climate changes and local pests and diseases.

3. Planting natives will also attract wildlife to your garden, making it much healthier. Bees and birds will transport pollen around the local area, while other native wildlife often become natural pest removers by eating harmful insects.

4. Use recycled or local products when building garden features such as decks, fences and pathways.

5. Learn to plant strategically to shade the house and reduce runoff. Planting deciduous leafy trees near your home will assist with the energy efficiency of your house. In summer, they block the sun and provide shade, thus reducing the need to use the air conditioner. And in winter, when the leaves have fallen, the reverse happens.

6. Collect rain water in drums or barrels and use for irrigation. This will not only save you money but also will help conserve water.

7.  Consider replacing lawn with native plants, vegetables, or even permeable pavers or gravel.

8. Adding flowers that attract beneficial insects to the vegetable patch will limit the need to spray with chemicals.

9. Establish a drip irrigation system which will ensure water only goes where it’s needed.

Images: Jeremy Levine Design, one2c900d, one2c900d

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