Growth Area Build-Out

- Scenario 2 -

Focus:

Vacant land and buildings in both Growth (Core, Corridor, Clusters) and Conservation areas are built out and population and job totals are added to the baseline estimates.

Premise:

While the urgency of Atlanta City Design is based on next-wave growth that could almost triple the City's population, the design itself is intended to guide and shape the City's growth for decades to come - well beyond a population of 1.3 million people. Prior to the Design, City policy and regulations like the Comprehensive Development Plan and the Future Land Use Plan were used to promote high density growth.

The Goal of this scenario is to determine the population carrying capacity of the entire City of Atlanta. If all properties were to completely build out to the maximum allowable density under today's development regulations, what would the resulting population be? Is this population number reasonable? How should Atlanta City Design and other plans and initiatives such as zoning ordinances respond?

Align Density with Transit

- Scenario 3 -

Focus:

Vacant land and buildings in both Growth (Core, Corridor, Clusters) and Conservation areas are built out, with increased transit-driven densities in Growth Areas. Population and job totals are added to the baseline estimates.

Premise:

This strategy includes the implementation of transit on the Atlanta Beltline's west side and identifies four additional transit-based projects west of downtown that lay a foundation for expansion of economic opportunity in the region.

The goal of this scenario is to incorporate two topics central to this strategy. First determining the minimum population necessary to ensure success of any implemented transit proposals, and second, determining the total population that could be supported by this strategy when the major Growth Areas it connects - both the corridors and clusters - are built out.

Feeling Lost?

Here's some additional background information and resources for getting started with the Planning Tools

Frequently Asked Questions:

What is the purpose of this project?

The City of Atlanta Department of Planning and Community Development will use the digital models of the City of Atlanta to develop and compare various growth scenarios. The models will serve as a foundation for examining, quantifying, refining, and communicating various City of Atlanta growth scenarios through an iterative design process in partnership with the Atlanta City Design (ACD) team.

How does this help Atlanta city planners and staff?

The planning suite is an invaluable tool for quickly assessing the impacts of various options for new developments or redevelopments in particular areas within the city. The models provide a range of information about the impacts of rezoning areas from low to high density or from one type of use to another (residential to industrial, commercial to mixed-use, etc.) in terms of changes in households and jobs together with their effect on the transportation infrastructure.

How were the featured scenarios chosen?

Scenarios are selected to provide specific information about: 1) population, households by type, housing units by type, and jobs by type at the spatial scale of neighborhoods (defined as Traffic Analysis Zones); 2) gross and net densities by neighborhood or corridor; and 3) traffic volumes around the neighborhood and across the city.

Does this mean development will exactly follow these Scenarios?

The scenarios created within the planning tools exist only to enable staff and city planners to quickly visualize what effect certain zoning parameter changes and targeted development legislatures will have on the built environment in Atlanta. Some of the resulting predictions may be determined useful and included in future planning initiatives.

What is meant by Growth or Conservation Area?

These terms refer to the aggregate of similar land-use and development potential sub-areas. By changing zoning parameters at this aggregate level, development and growth resulting from broad planning decisions can be predicted and visualized across the cityscape.

Conservation areas include land categories that are classified as residential Urban, Suburban, Rural, and economic Production zones.

Growth areas include land categories that are classified as the urban Core, transportation Corridors, and development Clusters.

Visualizing the Growth and Conservation Areas: