SWA Group was selected by the Freedom Park Conservancy to create a new master plan and reimagine the park with its legacy in mind.
The Freedom Park Conservancy has chosen SWA Group, a leading landscape architecture and urban design firm, to re-envision Atlanta's 200-acre Freedom Park with a new master plan. An important aspect of the project will be addressing the remnants of a deserted east-side freeway project that destroyed hundreds of homes in the 1970s, displacing residents. Matt Hickman describes the legacy of the park and the significance of the project:
While the Georgia Department of Transportation’s freeway project never came to fruition, a victory for the local activists and community leaders who rallied against it, it did leave behind large swaths of overgrown, blighted land—a variable kudzu jungle—that long sat empty and unused. That is until the creation of what is today a well-maintained and topographically varied park popular with joggers, walkers, cyclists, and out-of-town sightseers looking to take in the city from a decidedly less tourist-clogged vantage point.
SWA Group will work to transform the park to better connect downtown Atlanta with adjacent neighborhoods and integrate the park's unique artistic and historical character.
FULL STORY: SWA Group tapped for Freedom Park master plan in Atlanta
Atlanta Beltline Expands Westside Trail and Redevelops Rail Corridor
The Beltline is expanding the Westside Trail with new sections, including the Kudzu Trail, while also redeveloping abandoned rail corridors, with completion expected between 2025 and 2027.
How To Prevent ‘Green Gentrification’: Lessons from the BeltLine
For one author, the key is focusing on affordable housing from the start.
Atlanta Receives $3.2 Million for Freeway Cap Plan
The federal funding will help move forward planning for an ambitious proposal to cap a downtown Atlanta freeway with a 25-acre park.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
Canada vs. Kamala: Whose Liberal Housing Platform Comes Out on Top?
As Canada votes for a new Prime Minister, what can America learn from the leading liberal candidate of its neighbor to the north?
The Five Most-Changed American Cities
A ranking of population change, home values, and jobs highlights the nation’s most dynamic and most stagnant regions.
San Diego Adopts First Mobility Master Plan
The plan provides a comprehensive framework for making San Diego’s transportation network more multimodal, accessible, and sustainable.
Housing, Supportive Service Providers Brace for Federal Cuts
Organizations that provide housing assistance are tightening their purse strings and making plans for maintaining operations if federal funding dries up.
Op-Ed: Why an Effective Passenger Rail Network Needs Government Involvement
An outdated rail network that privileges freight won’t be fixed by privatizing Amtrak.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Central Transportation Planning Staff/Boston Region MPO
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies (IHS)
City of Grandview
Harvard GSD Executive Education
Regional Transportation Commission of Southern Nevada
Toledo-Lucas County Plan Commissions