Westpark, Urban park in Bochum, Germany

Westpark is a former steel factory transformed into a large public park with multiple levels of green spaces, water features, and preserved industrial buildings throughout the site. The layout connects different sections through pathways while keeping many of the original structures visible as you walk through.

Steel production on the site began with the Mayer steelworks on Alleestraße in 1843/45 and continued for 160 years, making products from church bells to cannon and ICE wheel tyres. The blast furnaces shut down in 1968 and the steelworks in 1985; only the eastern part of the area still works steel. After almost all buildings were demolished, the first park section opened in 1999, and the redesign received the National Prize for Integrated Urban Development and Building Culture in 2009.

The Jahrhunderthalle, a central glass-facade building within the park, functions as a primary venue for cultural events, including the RuhrTriennale festival performances.

The park is not flat: it is split into three levels at roughly 72, 80 and 90 metres above sea level, linked by ramps, stairs, bridges and steep embankments. The circular route around the Jahrhunderthalle is about one kilometre long and passes over bridge structures and along retaining walls. From the Bochumer Verein/Jahrhunderthalle tram stop, a broad stepped ramp leads up into the park.

The Nordpolbrücke, a footbridge over a deep cutting of access roads and the Bergbahn track, is lit interactively at night and gives the best view of the converted Jahrhunderthalle. It also links the park's upper level with the plateau of the former steelworks.