Atlanta unbound : enabling sprawl through policy and planning /

Driving through Atlanta, one cannot help but be struck by its vast reach and the seeming incoherence of its economic landscape. In fact, it is all too easy to conclude that something did not happen according to plan, or perhaps that there was no plan at all. Basmajian (community and regional planning, Iowa State Univ.) challenges the notion that Atlanta's urban sprawl resulted from the failure of regional planning to coordinate decisions across political jurisdictions. He argues, instead, that the city's extensive low-density development was shaped by changing demographics (the suburbanization of political power and the dynamics of race relations within the region); a flurry of federal domestic grant programs (for example, funding highways, housing, and environmental protection programs) that mandated regional planning and constrained local control; and shifting intergovernmental relationships. Ultimately, Basmajian suggests that the explanation for Atlanta's built form is subtle, hidden between the cracks in the planning process, and only fully understood by studying its structure and the diverse interests of the individuals and agencies governing it. Drawing heavily on the historical record, this book chronicles the role that five pivotal events played in the evolution of Atlanta's regional planning process. Summing Up: Recommended. Researchers and faculty as well as general readers. J. H. Turek Lynchburg College