A Detailed History of Atlanta's 'War on Density'

The Atlanta Studies website takes a deep dive into the history that produced the city of Atlanta as we know it today—and provides some suggestions on how to "correct some of its most atrocious attacks on the urban built environment."

1 minute read

February 11, 2016, 11:00 AM PST

By James Brasuell @CasualBrasuell


Joseph Hurley, from Georgia State University, has penned a long essay titled "Atlanta's War on Density," that endeavors to "explain how Atlanta’s war on density was propagated, explore what Atlanta has lost in terms of the residential built environment, and will end by challenging Atlanta’s leaders and developers to fully abandon the war on density in favor of people-focused, urban residential development in the Turner Field and Civic Center areas."

Though Hurley takes those two pending redevelopment projects as inspiration for the article, which includes lots of historic photos and references to historic planning documents, it's also worth noting that Atlanta is underway with a process to update its zoning code, with similarly stated goals as those pursued by Hurley.

Wednesday, February 3, 2016 in Atlanta Studies

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