The Darkness

Underground was designed to remember the historic railroad center that traveled through Atlanta. The designer failed to add more lighting, which would have brought more life to Underground. Because of this, Underground has continually failed due to its layout: a “subterranean space with no views, light or air that no amount of attention to the fine-grained historical details could overcome” (Rutheiser, 1999, p. 3).  The only lighting that shines Underground are a few ceiling lights; no other light source such as the sun enters Underground Atlanta causing potential shoppers to believe it’s not safe.

Potential shoppers are people who most likely live around the metro Atlanta area or tourists. People would suggest more lighting because successful shopping complex such as Mall of Georgia, Town Center, Lenox Square, and Cumberland Mall provide lighting from almost every angle. Typically, bright and shiny lighting has a sense of attracting people, while darkness tends to keep them away. The lack of confidence by the public in police to foster an environment they are comfortable with is a problem that must be addressed as well (Thompson and Brawley, 2000).

 

 

 Atlanta’s Community.

Underground has a variety of shops including major ones like Footlocker, Kids Footlocker, Skillz and Underground by Journeys. The fact of the shops being underground causes potential shoppers to stay away, particularly as the homeless community seems entrenched in the space. In big cities, such as Atlanta, there are numerous amounts of homeless people wandering around trying to survive as best as they can. One of the difficulties the homeless face is finding shelter during bad weather, or when they need a place to sleep. Underground Atlanta attracts more homeless people than potential shoppers because of the shelter it provides. The homeless community has been entrenched in Underground for so long, it developed an unpleasant smell. Redevelopment won’t be enough to change the current culture of Underground, also the issues of crime and homelessness would require a city-wide cooperative effort between the APD (Atlanta Police Department) and other organizations (Hawkins 2105).