Land Use & Smart Growth

Atlantic Drive green space corridor.

The statistics are startling. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates a world population approaching 9 billion people by 2040. Studies project global urbanization will rise to 61 percent — 85 percent within developed regions — by 2030. And advocacy groups predict that by the year 2035, 75 percent of the built environment in the United States will be either new or renovated.

Georgia Tech is committed to growing smart. By reducing hydrocarbon emissions, material consumption and consumption, and storm water runoff, the Institute strives to be an ecologically friendly and responsible part of the Atlanta and global communities. The Institute's Master Plan further emphasizes this responsibility focusing on three primary areas of environmental concern: education, research, and the campus community. For example, future campus plans include the creation of an Eco-Commons. An engineered waterway designed to recall the natural stream that existed on the north end of campus as late as the 1940s, the Eco-Commons will allow Tech to more effectively manage its storm water by reducing inflows into city sewers and creating a system for reuse on campus landscapes. Though it requires land space that could be used for instructional or lab facilities, the project makes sense based upon the goals Georgia Tech has as an institution and as a campus to provide adequate space for academics and research in an ecologically sound environment for work and play.

Research on smart growth is one of the main objectives of the Georgia Tech Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, a unit of the College of Architecture. The Center works with governmental, legal, health, engineering, architecture, environmental, policy, planning, and non-profit communities to create and promote a new vision and form for cities, suburbs, exurbs, and rural places.

Also part of the College of Architecture is the City and Regional Planning Program, whose mission is to be a global leader in the creation of sustainable cities and regions. It incorporates this mission into its teaching and research through a strong commitment to the interdisciplinary nature of planning. Students have access to as many as six dual degree programs, as well as seven areas of specialization that may be combined through the curriculum to develop integrated programs of study.