Designing for opportunity

Abstract

Over the past 50 years, transportation design in the United States has catered to the needs of the private automobile. While this form of travel grants high levels of mobility to car owning citizens, it also has far reaching, negative consequences. This thesis explores the ways in which auto-centric transportation planning contributes to the marginalization of low income and minority communities, and argues that transportation systems that embrace a variety of modes can play a vital role in community revitalization efforts. This argument is applied to a design application in the Hancock corridor of Athens, GA