Nowadays greenways are being used for different variety of functions which gives themrnmulti-functionality. They are used by planner as a tool to increase environmental quality ofrnlandscapes, heritage conservation and revitalization, green corridor creation and protection ofrnfauna and flora. It is recently being used to revitalize disused railway routes for public use. Thernresearch used the old Ethio-Djibouti Route as a case to investigates the potential of greenway asrna tool for abandoned Ethio-Djibouti railway route landscape revitalization in the vicinity ofrnAddis Ababa. For the better understanding of the physical and cultural experiences, keyrninformants from the community of design and urban planning professionals were interviewed. Inrnaddition to these, representatives from responsible bureau in Addis Ababa city administrationrnworking on green development, heritage landscapes and the Ethio-Djibouti railway corporationrnwere interviewed. Discussions were held also with people working and living along the route tornget the intimate relationship of the public with the route. Direct observation of the case is heldrnaby the researcher and notes were taken and maps were developed. the findings show that thernbasic concept of the greenway is understood by the design a and planning professionals, and thernAddis Ababa City Beautification and Cemetery development and few local residents. At thisrnstage, the old rial way route is degraded infrastructure stretching from the outskirt to the CBD ofrnthe city acting as a back yard to many neighborhoods. On the other hand, it is understood fromrnthe findings that the route has very strong possibility of becoming alternative green corridor andrnpublic recreation space in the city even if there are physical barriers, limited know how amongrnthe professionals, government offices and the local residents as a challenge. The strong publicrnmemory, linearity and non-physical social aspect of the route are positive values to revitalize thernroute with its historic sense while providing public services if programs are selected carefullyrnand designed with involvement of the public. Finally, this research at theoretical level willrncontribute on how we can approach abandoned historic landscape revitalization and at arnpractical level, it presents an alternative approach to the application of landscape design inrnconverting abandoned landscape in to useful public space.