Georgia State University Learning Center. Source: Atlanta Regional Commission
The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is venerable, having been established in 1947, but the agency is taking on Atlanta’s rapid growth and sprawl with an aggressive program to foster compact, mixed-use, transit-oriented development and redevelopment. Atlanta’s regional planning initiative is focused on economic sustainability and quality of life challenges in a rapidly growing metropolitan area – a focus reflected in the title of one of its current flagship programs, the Livable Centers Initiative.
ARC devotes its energies not only to large-scale growth management, but also to neighborhood and street-level issues of community design. ARC also is the region’s Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and has substantial funds to use in integrating transportation infrastructure spending with its regional growth management vision.
Vital Statistics:
Chapter of the Book: 15
State(s): GA
Year Established: 1947
Geographic Scale: 1.9 million acres
Mandatory or Voluntary over Local Government: Voluntary
Authorizing Laws: State
Agencies and Organizations:
Congress for the New Urbanism, Atlanta Chapter
Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, Georgia Institute of Technology
Resources:
Georgia Planning Act of 1989 (pdf)
ARC GIS Data and Map Resources
