ATLANTA CITY DESIGN CORE VALUES

All Office of Design initiatives incorporate at least one of the Atlanta City Design core values.

EQUITY

This is about our shared prosperity. Because we’re not starting with a level playing field, equity is our commitment to fair inclusion of everyone in the economic, social and cultural benefits of city life. It acknowledges that our support for each person and each community to achieve their full potential is not only the right thing to do, it is our most strategic way forward.

Atlanta’s contribution to the world is the promise of the civil rights era, and it is important to understand that it wasn’t a coincidence that those dreams were born here. They came from Atlanta because of who we are — at our best and at our worst. They were the hard-earned result of vision, compromise and incremental progress, all of which was fostered by our economic ambitions and the physical, social and cultural conditions found in this part of the world at that time. They created a movement both for our city and for the world that offered real hope for lives that are not only equal, but just.

Dr. King described the outcome of the Movement as the beloved community — a place where everyone is welcome and engaged in the implementation of peace. We haven’t always lived up to his aspiration, of course, and in fact, Atlanta is often cited as a highly inequitable place. As rapid change threatens to only amplify that difference in a new era of urban revitalization, it is essential that we recognize Atlanta’s unique opportunity in the world. If we design for it, equity can remain a real and meaningful reflection of our civic identity, our values, our public space and infrastructure, our way of life — even ourselves.

PROGRESS

This is about our collective integrity. When different people disagree, progress moves us forward through hard work and peaceful, constructive compromise. Done right, this kind of determined effort protects people, places and other things with meaning, even in the face of tremendous political and market pressures to do otherwise.

Atlanta’s propensity to reinvent itself has often been labeled as progress. Frequently, that has meant growth or change at the expense of other people or communities. Progress with civic integrity, however, was modeled here by civic leadership during much of the civil rights era. Unlike other Southern cities, Atlanta largely avoided riots, firebombings and violent protests, instead moving forward though a highly negotiated and peaceful process of change. We dubbed ourselves “the city too busy to hate” and modeled many methods of nonviolent protest and racial reconciliation. The hard work to achieve that kind of progress is an exemplary reflection of Atlanta at its best.

Our work remains unfinished, of course. The commitment and effort required to continue building our city with that depth of integrity is also difficult, and not everyone is willing to participate. So, as the city grows and changes, we need to make sure that we’re attracting and retaining people who are willing to be a part of this process. We need to support our model for change with policy and training where it’s needed, and we need to embed integrity into every initiative.

If we want to build a city that values people and places, and not merely the bottom line, progress with integrity is the only kind we can afford.

AMBITION

This is about our civic motivation. More than mere goals, ambition is the internal drive that makes people build great businesses, institutions, art and cities. When paired with opportunity, it unleashes the passion of people to accomplish their dreams, create value, solve problems for the world and articulate a city’s authentic cultural identity.

It seems that from its early days, Atlanta has been a place for invention and opportunity. In what might have otherwise remained a sleepy town, Atlanta always aspired to greatness. During Reconstruction, for example, we aggressively lured new businesses and rebuilt our city — one fledgling new enterprise would become the world’s largest beverage company. Late last century, we built an incredible rapid transit system for a city our size, and for more than two decades, we’ve been actively expanding the busiest airport in the entire world. And when we got a shot at the Olympic Games, we didn’t back down from the competition. Instead, we had the audacity to believe we could beat Athens, Greece, for the Centennial Games — the one hundredth anniversary of the modern Olympiad — and we won.

But hustle isn’t enough. When it’s not paired with opportunity, ambition leads to frustration and unrealized dreams. Just because the Dungeon Family, which includes OutKast, could shift the center of global music from their dirt basement in Lakewood, doesn’t mean that every aspiring kid or business in Atlanta will achieve a similar fate. If we want to remain the kind of place that is still open to dreams and dreamers, we need to make sure that both our individual and shared ambition is met with abundant opportunity, motivating us to build an even more beautiful and prosperous city, and to stake our claim in the world.

ACCESS

This is about our physical form. In our day-to-day lives, access to the city around us is shaped by layered systems of infrastructure. This is particularly true of railroads, streets, bikeways, highways and transit, that together create a network for moving around, define the extent of our communities and provide the framework for our daily habits.

The very origin of Atlanta came as a junction of railroads, and the business and population growth that followed was supported by subsequent investments in national highways, regional thoroughfares, rail transit and our global airport. This ever-expanding hub of infrastructure gave us access to the world, and conversely, it brought the world to our doorstep. It fueled success for many people, and our investments helped ensure Atlanta remained a prosperous region with an enviable quality of life.

Often, however, the projects we built to support regional expansion came at the expense of our own communities. During the last century, changes in technology and changing cultural expectations — especially our obsession with cars — ultimately disconnected our communities physically and socially from each other. This limited our access to opportunity, diminished the character of our neighborhoods, and in many places, degraded our quality of life. As our expectations change yet again in favor of higher densities, automation and walkability, a more layered, nuanced and intentional expansion of access will be essential to reshaping our lives and the communities we want to live in.

NATURE

This is about our natural condition. Even in a dense urban environment, nature surrounds us with the complexity of its watersheds and the many layers of vegetation between its soil and its treetops. These elements can be found in Atlanta across a spectrum of native and degraded conditions, supporting the life of both humans and wildlife.

Part of Atlanta’s appeal is its lush condition. Our thick forest is highly visible from any plane or tall building and provides shady relief from all the concrete and built-up areas of the city. Nearly anything grows here — so much that the unsightliness of any shortcoming is quickly obscured by leafy vegetation that leaps exuberantly from every crevice.

Our forest is no longer pristine, obviously, but it does include many rare native trees and some of the most unique and intact patches of forest to be found in any major city. Atlanta ranks at the top nationally for its tree canopy coverage. And while the headwaters of our watersheds may be urbanized, they are tributaries for some of Georgia’s great rivers. Our Chattahoochee riverfront waits patiently for discovery and our mild climate is always cited as a driver for growth and livability. So, while we may too often find ourselves sealed in air-conditioned cars and buildings, nature remains an essential starting point for any discussion about the design of our future.