The Bezos Earth Fund is committing $100 million to turn asphalt lots, vacant properties, a former highway interchange, and an abandoned industrial quarry into parks and green spaces across eight U.S. cities.

The new round of funding will support projects in Allentown, Atlanta, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, and Sioux Falls. Plans range from neighborhood playgrounds and community gardens to restored wetlands, urban forests, and a 20-acre riverfront development.

One of the largest transformations will take place in Cleveland, where 600 publicly owned parcels in the Hough and St. Clair-Superior neighborhoods will become natural landscapes, pocket parks, gathering areas, and urban agriculture sites. More than half of the parcels in the two neighborhoods are currently vacant.

In Los Angeles, the Watts Towers Arts Center campus will gain a five-acre park with native plants, shade trees, a walking path, an outdoor amphitheater classroom, and interactive art installations. The redesigned campus is expected to serve more than 50,000 visitors annually ahead of the 2028 Olympics.

Allentown will replace a 1.1-acre asphalt lot in one of its most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods with a park serving more than 16,000 residents. Indianapolis will transform 25 acres along the White River, while Sioux Falls will turn a former industrial quarry into a 16.3-acre park with trails and waterfront access.

Little Rock plans to build a destination park on land reclaimed after the removal of a highway exit ramp. The project will connect more than 100 acres of riverfront green space, and the Earth Fund grant is expected to help generate another $60 million to $70 million in fundraising.

“Places to cool down and get shade, bring their families, or simply walk through on their commute shouldn’t be a luxury,” said Tom Taylor, President and CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund.

The grants bring the Greening America’s Cities initiative’s total investment to $150 million across 11 cities. The Earth Fund plans to commit $400 million to the program overall, with the newly funded spaces opening gradually over the next several years.

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