Atlanta City Studio’s agenda for this week

Atlanta City Studio serves as a pop-up shop for urban planning within Ponce City Market, 675 Ponce de Leon Avenue. With this shop, individuals browse through museum-like displays that illustrate future developments of Atlanta while engaging in a democratic process. Individuals can provide feedback to urban planners that emphasize the community’s potential concerns, requests, and/or ideas regarding up and coming developments. Currently, Atlanta City Studio offers eight different displays ranging from rental bikes to bridges that communicate the new implementations into the city. The most interactive display, Atlanta’s bike rental system, seemed to be occupied heavily and regarded the most by individuals. As Atlanta attempts to further away from their predominant vehicle use, public access of bikes are starting to integrate within the city in order to promote other modes of transportation. The studio itself is located on the second floor of Ponce City Market, directly above the food court, and is tucked away from the largely traveled paths of the market which appears difficult for residents to navigate. Regardless of navigational skills, the studio remains open from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM from Tuesdays to Fridays with limited hours on Saturdays. Since it is a pop-up shop, the studio plans on existing within Ponce City Market for six months until moving to a different location. During my experience, there weren’t many people in the store. Perhaps, many civilians that visit Ponce City Market don’t plan on encountering a workplace for urbanists to expand developmental plans. Instead, they intend on consuming the highly-regarded cuisine and retail offered at the market. I also believe that many Atlantans don’t understand the purpose of Atlanta City Studio because the average person doesn’t intertwine with the democratic process of city planning. Because of the limited audience at the studio, the employees were very willing and open to discuss the various displays and their respective justifications. Thus, they provided direct and beneficial contact between the consumer and the business. However, I did notice that the select few of individuals perusing through the studio looked like professionals; They wore suits and seemed very invested about learning the urban plans of Atlanta. In regards to space, the building was wide open – very spacious which juxtaposes to the immense density of people within Ponce City Market. This space allowed the customers to feel comfortable walking from display to display. If there were to be suggestions to improve Atlanta City Studio, I would advertise the shop’s purpose to Atlanta residents and encourage more citizens to become a part of the democratic process. After all, Atlanta is increasingly changing in terms of urban development, and the people should be aware of these changes to better improve their city.

Image courtesy of Hypepotamus