The Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord is a large park and recreational area built on the grounds of the old Duisburg Meiderich Ironworks, which were abandoned in 1985, leaving the area quite polluted and not much use for anybody. The park is in the Ruhr area of Germany, which has been heavily industrialised for over a century, and the Ironworks were built starting in 1901, next to a coal field. The works eventually shut down due to overcapacity in the European steel market, which is generally the fate of all older industrial plants eventually, as newer and more efficient ones take their place.
This area of Germany has a great industrial heritage and a wide range of sites which have been re-purposed for modern uses, such as the Zeche Zollverein coal mine I visited previously, which has since been turned into the Ruhr Museum. This site has been designed to "heal and understand the industrial past, rather than trying to reject it" and so keeps much of the existing buildings and conditions as they were.
There are a huge range of different areas and activities going on in the park - I was there late in the day and only managed to see a small part, but that was very interesting and I'm keen to go back to see more! These photos are from the old blast furnace and coal and ore bunkers, much of which has been turned into gardens, recreational climbing walls and playgrounds. The rest of the site includes all sorts of activities like walking/cycling trails, high rope courses, a scuba pool, cafes and restaurants, and spaces for all sorts of cultural activities, concerts and festivals throughout the year. It has turned a previously unusable and dangerous site into something fun and useful for the whole region.