Since [...] the federal government turned control [of Governors Island] over to New York City, under the condition that it not be used for residential housing, it has been an island in search of a purpose [...]

Now, the city has a new idea: transforming one of its last big chunks of developable land [...] into a “living laboratory” for coping with the effects of climate change. — The New York Times

By the year 2020, however, America’s fourth largest city will be able to claim a “premier” botanic garden all its own in the form of Houston Botanic Garden (HBG). [...]

And, as it turns out, some folks living in the neighborhoods abutting the golf course would rather not see a stunning botanic garden designed by the same Dutch landscape architecture firm behind the redevelopment of New York City's Governors Island take its place. And it’s not because they're necessarily gaga over golf. — mnn.com

The Hills on Governors Island will welcome visitors this summer — nearly a year ahead of schedule, it was announced last week — and add 10 acres of green space to the city, largely in the form of four artificial hills. Made of recycled construction debris and clean fill, the hills rise as high as 70 feet above the island...An unseasonably warm fall contributed to faster-than-expected construction times. — NextCity

Last week Friday, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg broke ground on The Hills, a new public park land on Governors Island designed by Rotterdam-based landscape architects West 8.

Made of recycled construction and fill materials, The Hills will rise 34 to 90 feet above sea level, and the summit of the tallest Hill will provide visitors with a 360-degree panorama of the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor and the Lower Manhattan skyline. — bustler.net

The Minneapolis Parks Foundation has announced a shortlist of three award-winning design teams for the schematic design project Water Works: A Next Generation Park on Minneapolis’ Central Riverfront. The teams are Gustafson Guthrie Nicol with VJAA and Interboro (Seattle/Minneapolis/New York); SCAPE with Rogers Marvel (New York); and Team West 8 (Rotterdam/New York). — bustler.net

BIG together with West 8, Fentress Architects, John Portman & Associates (JPA), Revuelta Architecture International and developers Portman-CMC have unveiled the urban planning proposal Miami Beach Square, the centerpiece of a 52-acre Miami Beach Convention Center District development. Portman-CMC is one of two development teams currently in the race for the project. — bustler.net

The design competition to bring fresh life to San Francisco's Fort Mason Center has been won by a team that proposes such twists as a floating pool and a pedestrian bridge to Marina Green. — sfgate.com

Rotterdam-based landscape architects West 8, together with local practice IROJE architects & partners, have recently won the international competition for the master plan of Yongsan Park, Korea. The park will be the first national park inside a South Korean city. More importantly, it will give ultra-dense Seoul some badly-needed green space and will be similar in size to New York’s Central Park. — bustler.net

Munich's Department of Urban Planning and Construction recently announced that Rotterdam-based practice West 8 has won Part B (Housing and Neighborhood Center) of the urban and landscape planning competition for the first phase of Freiham North. Part A (Community Center, School and Sports Center) was won by Ortner & Ortner Baukunst Gesellschaft von Architekten, Berlin. — bustler.net

Six New York City firms were selected, including BIG, which Saitowitz said had designs of past projects that were "jaw dropping." — St. Petersburg Times

The Garden of 10,000 Bridges, created by Dutch urban and landscape design firm West 8 in partnership with DYJG Beijing, has recently opened to the public at the International Horticultural Exhibition in Xi'an, China. The garden will be open until October 22, 2011. — bustler.net