The Contradictory Logics of Public-Private Place-making and Spatial Justice: The Case of Atlanta’s Beltline

The concept of spatial justice connects social justice to space (Harvey 1973; Lefebvre 1992 and Soja 2010). As Soja (2010) argues, justice has a geography. Spatial justice seeks more equitable distribution of resources in a world where societies are inherently unjust. In theory, many urban design and place-making projects aim to create a more spatially— just city. That is, until such projects collide against the profit logic and ambitions of the private market. The purpose of this essay is to revisit the issue of urban design and place-making as mechanisms for urban spatial justice using Atlanta’s Beltline adaptive reuse project as a current example of how such visions end up competing with the onthe-ground economic and political realities of speculative real estate. The Beltline was first proposed as part of a master’s thesis by Georgia Institute of Technology student Ryan Gravel in 1999. The idea was to transform an abandoned 22mile railroad corridor which loops around 45 in-town neighborhoods into integrated walking, cycling trails, as well as green space. Inspired by Jane Jacobs’ ideals for urban life—connectivity, socially-just cultural and economic mix, and greater density—the hope has been that this adaptive reuse project would spur equitable and sustainable mixed income/mixed-use redevelopment in Atlanta, a city known for its sprawling segregation and car culture. In sum, the Beltline had the potential of becoming a great equalizer by connecting affluent and poor, Black and white neighborhoods together through city-wide public-private space (Camrud 2017). By the mid-2000s, city and business leaders had embraced the project and Atlanta Beltline, Inc. (ABI), was formed as the public-private agency that would administer and oversee the development. The project continues to be touted as one of the largest such efforts in the United States during the new millennia with the organizational slogan, “Where Atlanta Comes Together”.1 To fund the project, the Beltline Tax Allocation District (TAD) was created. To ensure the construction of affordable housing along the Beltline, the Atlanta City Council voted to require 15 percent of the TAD bond proceeds go to the newly established Beltline Affordable Housing Trust Fund, which fell under the umbrella of Invest Atlanta, a local public-private development entity. The overall purpose of the housing trust fund was to provide grants to developers for affordable multifamily rentals, single family, community housing development organizations for multiand single family housing construction. The idea was that through the TAD allocation and additional fund