Building Infrastructure for More Inclusive Communities

As the creator of the Atlanta BeltLine project, Ryan Gravel is partly responsible for one of the most successful sustainability efforts in recent history. Starting as the subject of Gravel’s master thesis back in 1999, the BeltLine is now credited with reducing sprawl, limiting car-dependence, and generating a vibrant cultural hub within the city of Atlanta. Since its approval in 2006, the project has revitalized 22 miles of railroads and connected 40 of the city’s disparate neighborhoods. As the BeltLine has helped neighborhoods revitalize, however, it has generated concerns about rising gentrification and deepening inequality.

In his new book, Where We Want to Live: Reclaiming Infrastructure for a New Generation of Cities, Gravel reconciles his passion for big ideas with some of the unfortunate realities of urban expansion. He also advances a few key strategies for building healthier, prosperous, and more sustainable cities. Of critical importance, he argues, is the need to experiment with new ideas, develop a political structure for change, prohibit sprawl, and redirect growth toward existing corridors and historic downtowns.