Kerala Tourism has leveraged its new Design policy to launch ‘We Park’, an innovative project that aims to elevate the tourism experience of the state by utilising unused and abandoned urban spaces in a sustainable and visually aesthetic manner.
State Tourism Minister PA Mohamed Riyas inaugurated on Saturday, the state’s first ‘We Park’ located under the railway overbridge near SN College, Kollam.
The park is equipped with badminton and volleyball courts, walking tracks, a skating area, a chess block, an open gym, a cafeteria, yoga and meditation zone, a garden, an event space, seating arrangements, parking facility, and toilets.
By launching this innovative project, Kerala has become the first state in the country to implement a design policy in the public works and tourism sector through which spaces under bridges are to be transformed to provide green lungs and a healthier environment to the people.
This first We Park under the Kerala government’s new design policy, which was launched in 2023, was completed at a cost of Rs.Two crores within a land area of 70 cents. It was implemented by Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Limited (KTIL).
“The We Park project, initiated by the Tourism Department, reflects our vision of contributing to a design-driven economy. We aim to transform unused or abandoned public spaces into creative areas for gatherings and activities, thereby adding value to these locations,” the Minister said.
It will serve as a stepping stone for advancing the Tourism Department’s other initiatives underthe Design policy, which will significantly enhance urban spaces, he added.
The design policy envisioned for PWD and Tourism departments will utilise more urban spaces in the coming years and transform such spaces into vibrant and creative public spaces that would elevate the tourism experience of the state.
Riyas said that leveraging such unused public spacesfor creative activities will also help prevent them from being turned into anti-social havens including peddling of narcotics.
“The government intends to utilise similar spaces under more than a hundred bridges in the state in this manner. Such a pursuit will be undertaken in collaboration with cooperative institutions, private establishments, and individuals,” he pointed out.
State Finance Minister Shri K.N. Balagopal said unused urban spaces across the state should be transformed in a similar manner. Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development Mrs J. Chinchu Rani said that ‘We Park’ will stand as an image of development located in the heart of Kollam city.
The income generated from the park will be used for its maintenance, which will be handled by District Tourism Promotion Council, Kollam Corporation.
