The Effects of Georgia State University’s Invisible Boundary Design

Iahyanna Miers- Johnson

Georgia State University

The invisible boundary design of Georgia State University is a seemingly paradoxical concept that expresses a change in the traditional model of a campus. This objective encourages the presence of non-academic community members, such as the homeless and business professionals who work in buildings adjacent to the campus. The downtown location openly stimulates the flow of a vast majority of different people which allows for the intermingling of community members with student/faculty and others. The outcome of this construction celebrates diversity and leads to more opportunities for learning.

The term “invisible boundary” is essentially a purposeful contradiction that refers to a nonexistent partition in a space that one would ordinarily be. The campus map of GSU details this concept by showing an intertwining of non-academic buildings that are within the campus and are sporadically spread throughout the area. Normal boundaries on more traditional enclosed campuses may include division through fences or brick walls that group academic buildings together in one general space, while excluding unrelated infrastructure to the outskirts of university walls.  This design is seen at neighboring colleges in the Atlanta area; Spelman, Morehouse, Georgia Tech, and Emory. This is created to separate academic areas of the campus from non-academic areas such as close neighborhoods, restaurants, stores, businesses, or public transportation. However at GSU, the boundary is invisible because there is no division or cogent

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line that excludes non-academic people or unrelated infrastructure from the university. This encourages the intermingling of students, the homeless, and business professionals on campus.

An analysis of FBI data shows that for 2014, the most recent year available, the average rate of violent crimes is 5.5 per 10,000 for students on Georgia’s public colleges and universities. Georgia State reported about 3.7 crimes per 10,000. Georgia Tech reported 8.7, and Emory University reported about 12.2 per 10,000 students. Among the historic black colleges and universities, which are situated near some of Atlanta’s poorer neighborhoods, Morehouse College reported the highest rate. Its students reported about 28.4 violent crimes for every 10,000 students, Spelman reported 18.7, Clark Atlanta reported 20. These statistics support the fact that a private or closed off campus does not necessarily lead to less crime and therefore is not always best for the freedom, academics, and understanding of students when it pertains to a culturally eclectic and diverse world.

Janel Davis is the author of an article titled “Atlanta’s campus crimes concern students, parents,” with a thesis that expresses Atlanta campuses ; “School, business and city leaders all have a stake in burnishing downtown’s image as a safe place for parents to send their children so that the universities, which have become integral components of the city’s economic development, maintain their positive momentum.” The type of evidence involved includes both candid and statistical reports that describe the composition of campuses in Atlanta and related crime rate in both open and closed off universities. The purpose of the text is to address the issue of crime in downtown Atlanta on college campuses, and what can be done to prevent this matter while also essentially defending the safety procedures that have been put in place to create a good, open environment and still protect students.  The intended audience of this article are

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college students, law enforcement, and parents of these students in downtown Atlanta who are concerned about the safety procedures and open access to the Universities in the city.

What about the design of the GSU campus encourages the intermingling of different people? How is the design of other campuses in downtown Atlanta different from that of GSU and what effect does this have on the students and community? Do people at GSU appreciate a more open or closed off campus? What is the comparison of crime related incidents in open campuses vs closed off campuses? What are the pros and cons of campuses with boundaries vs those without?