http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1025&context=sociology_diss

Konrad, Miriam Fiedler, “Transporting Atlanta: The Mode of Mobility under Construction.” Dissertation, Georgia State University, 2006.
http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/sociology_diss/26

In “Transporting Atlanta: The Mode of Mobility Under Construction”, specifically chapter 5, “The Beltline: Great Green Hope”, Miriam Fiedler Konrad thoroughly describes the pros, cons, and intentions behind the Beltline project of Atlanta. The main reason I selected this work over others is because Konrad goes extremely in-depth with the Beltline, referencing multiple scholars and professors throughout the work, giving their thoughts and opinions on the matter as well as her own. The source itself serves as Konrad’s dissertation for her PhD in Philosophy at Georgia State. This is both good and bad for the source as a whole. Given that she’s a student, her opinions on the subject at hand could be considered ill-informed due to her lack of experience. However the fact that she is earning her doctorate degree, and is having to cite many different credible sources to back up her thesis, gives the source much more backbone.

First, Konrad answers the question “What is the BeltLine?” by outlining the first ideas of the BeltLine, showing images, and informing the reader of the groups and individuals involved with creating the concept of the BeltLine. She describes in detail the original purposes behind the creation of the Beltline, as well as different reasons people may support or protest its creation. Konrad then goes into detail about the politics and the funding behind the project, explaining where the money comes from and why. She explains that much of the purpose behind the Beltline is to give Atlanta the aspect of “flavor” that its always lacked. Overall, this Georgia State Alumnus provides a very clear, detailed history and logic behind the Beltline.

http://scholarworks.gsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=univ_lib_blog

Hurley, Joseph, “1949 Atlanta Aerial Mosaic Project Reveals Built Environment Change” (2014). Selections from the University Library Blog. Paper 11.

This article is written by Georgia State’s very own Joseph Hurley, who teaches on Geographic Information Systems, social sciences, and geography. He teaches the American Studies Cluster seminar, which revolves around mapping historic and current Atlanta.

His article “1949 Atlanta Aerial Mosaic Project Reveals Built Environment Change” shows several pairs of images collected by the Georgia State University Library that reflect the the regional changes that have occurred over the past 50 years. The images depict a mostly residential Atlanta becoming an automobile-driven urban city. They show how buildings, streets, and infrastructure have drastically changed to accommodate the Atlanta commuter. One set of images shows the drastic changes that occurred in the Ponce City Market area, which was once home to a train track and the Sears Robuck Building.

I chose this source for its use of imagery. The pictures shown depict the infrastructural changes that have influenced the construction of the Beltline and other urban renewal projects in Atlanta throughout the years.

The credibility of this source mostly comes from the fact that the images were found with Google images, and that the writer is a well-respected faculty member of the university. His past with geographical history and GIS knowledge helps further his credibility, along with the fact that the article itself was published by the GSU Library.

Link:

https://works.bepress.com/jennifer_j_clark/29/

Citation:

Clark, Jennifer. “Rethinking Atlanta’s Regional Resilience in an Age of Uncertainty: Still the Economic Engine of the New South?,” 2014. https://works.bepress.com/jennifer_j_clark/29/.

Annotation:

Jennifer Clark outlines the economic, industrial, and social transformations of the Atlanta region from over the past 20 years. She provides many credible statistics on graduation rates, GDP rates, and employment rates that apply to the metro-Atlanta area as a whole. She uses these statistics to support the idea that Atlanta is a complicated, dynamic industrial region. Clark spends much of the chapter explaining how diverse Atlanta’s economy is compared to most large urban cities, and how this diversification has caused what she refers to as “uneven transformations” to be added to the city’s infrastructure. She explains how Atlanta’s recent “policies and projects send mix signals” about whether or not the city will prioritize “both the community and the economy”.

Clark specifically refers to both the Atlanta Beltline and Ponce City Market in the section entitled “Uneven Transformations: Twenty-First Century Urban Entrepreneurialism (Universities, BeltLines, Stadiums, and Real Estate Development)”, and she actually refers to Georgia State as well. She mentions how the Beltline and the urban renewal project that became Ponce City Market are both prime examples of urban innovation and economic development strategy. Clark also outlines some of the inspirations behind the BeltLine and specific projects that helped fuel its creation.

Jennifer Clark cites many credible sources throughout her work such as the New York Times, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and many different journals that cover specific issues of Atlanta. The work itself is only a chapter from the book entitled Planning Atlanta: Ruins and Resurgence. Her chapter essentially describes Atlanta’s recent economic tendencies and how the city’s government has reacted to it. With low income rates, employment rates, and graduation rates, the city still possibly made decisions that did not prioritize the improvement of these numbers, which is exactly what Clark describes in her work.

Zotero Link:

https://www.zotero.org/alishiraef/items/collectionKey/5UN3N96R/itemKey/3PGK8EB3