HPRG RESEARCH
Project Title: |
Incremental Urbanism: The Auto and the Pedestrian Reconsidered in Greyfield Developments?The Buford Highway Case |
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Participating Institutions/ Organizations: |
Georgia Tech College of Architecture, Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (Georgia Tech) ) |
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Researchers/ Practitioners: |
Associate Professor Jude LeBlanc, Assistant Professor Michael Gamble, Dr. Catherine L. Ross |
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Time period: |
Fall 2003, ongoing |
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Web site: |
www.arch.gatech.edu/homepages/mgamble |
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Contact Person: |
Michael Gamble and Jude LeBlanc |
E-mail/ Phone: |
michael.gamble@arch.gatech.edu |
Description |
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The Buford
Highway Corridor in DeKalb County, Georgia is unique, with its
own special demographics and characteristics, yet is representative
of major urban problems that confront many contemporary cities:
ubiquitous strip developments that are single use, low density,
auto oriented, and pedestrian unfriendly. This design framework
is now especially dysfunctional since the population living and
working in the corridor has changed. It can be described as a
corridor that made the transformation from a post World War II
rural highway to a 1960's suburban arterial road in terms of
the design of the road, the demographics of its inhabitants and
users, and the strip style development constructed. Starting in the late 1980's the corridor began to change again. New constituents in the form of immigrant and migrant workers as well as refugees, started occupying the affordable apartment housing located on Buford Highway. This has resulted in an area whose growth patterns do not reflect the behaviors of its population, especially in the areas of transportation and land use. This results in safety concerns such as increased pedestrian fatality rates, overwhelmed transit services, and a marginal building stock whose design is difficult to adapt to new uses.
Many recent studies conclude that low-density auto-oriented development results in environments that adversely affect public health and safety, economic viability, and neighborhood and cultural integrity. Characteristics include poor vehicular/pedestrian circulation systems, excess surface parking, low building density, and inadequate mass transit. Health is affected at the scales of the individual, the neighborhood social unit, and the larger ecological system. While there is significant writing on the subject, there are few examples of exactly how to implement change. Greyfield sites are strategically chosen in order to force speculation on the relationship between architectural projects, public policy, and community design.
Our hypothesis is that revised relationships between interconnectivity, parking requirements, mixed use density, and public transportation are needed to produce healthier environments. The Buford Highway Case examines these issues locally and illustrates incremental steps to improving quality of life for residents and businesses in that area through zoning code changes and the development of "corridor overlays."
National Awards: Architecture for Social Justice Award, 2003 AND Places/EDRA Research Award, 2004 |
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