1.6 - Atlanta, USA - An urban area

Question 1

Atlanta Location

Answer 1

Capital city of Georgia, United States

Question 2

Population (1970 to 2013)

Answer 2

Grown from 2 million to 6 million
* Fastest growing metropolitan city in USA

Question 3

Causes of migration to Atlanta

Answer 3

From cities around the Great Lakes and the north-east
* unemployment is high and cost of living is expensive

Question 4

Beltline

Answer 4

A road or railway that circles a metropolitan area

Question 5

Atlanta beltline

Answer 5

Uses old abandones railway tracks that were built before Atlanta was a city and uses them in a redevopment plan which forms a loop around midtown and downtown Atlanta
* 22 miles long

Question 6

Actions of development done within the Atlanta Beltline (name 3)

Answer 6

• 527 hectares of new green space and parks
• 53 km of shared-use paths
• $20 billion of new economic development
• 30,000 new permanent jobs from new businesses
• 8% of city landmass covered in the planning area and 25% of Atlanta’s population
• 5600 new workforce housing units

Question 7

Problems caused by growth (name 5 with statistics)

Answer 7

• Traffic congestion - 50,000km of road and 90% of residents drive to work experiencing 68 hours of delays per year
• Air quality - congestion increased respiratory illnesses like bronchitis
• Water quality and quantity - contaminated drinking water
• Agricultural land loss - expansion caused farmland to be covered in infrastructure
• Loss of green space/ecosystems - between 1982 and 2002, 38% of green space in Atlanta’s city boundary was built on
• Impermeable surfaces - concrate and asphalt has replaced soil and meant that surface water cannot drain away
• Cultural loss - civil war battlefields surrounding the city are under threat from suburban homes
• Socio-economic division - most sprawl is north where white middle-class suburbs have been built, the inner city has had less investments