Osaka’s Namba Park
This item appears on page 96 of the December 2008 issue.
When it was decided to pull down a little-used baseball stadium in Osaka, Japan, city planners and the site owner instead converted it into an unusual park space.
Located in an urban area near the Namba train station, there now are eight floors of gardens, paths, waterfalls, trees and public spaces on a series of terraces atop a mall with shops and restaurants — a unique place to visit.