Atlanta has long been recognized as the “Black Mecca,” a city where Black communities have built culture, wealth, and identity across generations. However, this identity is increasingly under pressure as large-scale redevelopment reshapes the city. This project focuses on historically Black neighborhoods located near the Atlanta BeltLine, a major urban redevelopment initiative that has transformed the physical, economic, and social landscape of the city.
The central injustice explored in this analysis is gentrification-driven displacement, where rising housing costs and redevelopment disproportionately impact Black and low-income communities. While projects like the BeltLine are often framed as economic revitalization—bringing green space, infrastructure, and new investment—they frequently benefit higher-income, often White residents, while placing pressure on long-term Black residents to relocate.
This is not simply a story about neighborhood change. It is a story about who has the power to remain in place and who is pushed out as cities evolve.
The patterns observed in this project are part of a much longer history of racialized urban development in the United States, particularly in cities like Atlanta.
W.E.B. Du Bois’s early sociological work provides a critical foundation for understanding these dynamics. In The Philadelphia Negro (1899) and later through the Atlanta University Studies, Du Bois examined how structural racism shaped where Black communities could live, work, and build wealth. His research emphasized that inequality was not due to individual shortcomings but rather to systemic exclusion, segregation, and economic barriers. In his 1903 Atlanta University Study, Du Bois documented how Black neighborhoods were often confined to areas with fewer resources and limited investment—patterns that would shape urban development for generations.
These historical conditions are directly connected to modern redevelopment. Neighborhoods that are now targeted for investment were often the same areas that were historically disinvested due to segregation and discriminatory policies. According to the Urban Institute (2020), gentrification disproportionately occurs in formerly low-income, predominantly Black neighborhoods, where property values were suppressed and later become attractive for redevelopment.
Freeman (2005) complicates traditional definitions of displacement by introducing the concept of indirect or gradual displacement. He argues that even when residents are not immediately forced out, rising costs and shifting neighborhood dynamics create long-term pressure that makes it increasingly difficult to remain. This is particularly relevant in Black communities, where generational ties to neighborhoods may delay movement but do not eliminate structural pressures.
In Atlanta specifically, Immergluck and Balan (2018) show that proximity to the BeltLine is strongly associated with rising home values and development pressure. Their findings highlight that redevelopment is not occurring in neutral space, but in historically Black neighborhoods that are already vulnerable due to longstanding economic inequality.
Further research emphasizes the role of wealth disparities in shaping these outcomes. Taylor (2019) demonstrates how systemic barriers such as redlining and discriminatory lending practices have limited Black wealth accumulation, making Black households more vulnerable to rising housing costs. As a result, even moderate increases in rent or property taxes can have disproportionate impacts in these communities.
Together, this body of research demonstrates that urban redevelopment must be understood as part of a broader system of inequality. The BeltLine is not simply a new development project—it is layered onto a historical landscape shaped by segregation, disinvestment, and unequal access to resources.
The statistical and spatial analysis conducted in this project provides strong empirical evidence supporting these patterns of inequality.
Neighborhoods located within 0.5 miles of the BeltLine experienced:
At first glance, these changes may appear to reflect economic improvement. However, when examined alongside demographic shifts, a different story emerges. The same neighborhoods experiencing the greatest economic growth are also those undergoing the most dramatic racial transformation.
Statistical testing reinforces these findings. A t-test comparing median rent between areas near and far from the BeltLine shows a statistically significant difference (p < 0.05), confirming that proximity to redevelopment is associated with rising housing costs. Correlation analysis further shows that income, rent, and home values are strongly positively related, while percent Black population is negatively associated with these variables.
These results indicate that redevelopment is not simply improving neighborhoods—it is restructuring them, often in ways that redistribute access to space and opportunity. The data confirms that change is not evenly experienced, but instead concentrated in specific areas, particularly those closest to the BeltLine.
While the dataset provides strong evidence of neighborhood change, it is important to acknowledge its limitations.
First, census tract data aggregates populations and cannot capture individual-level experiences. Displacement is not always immediate or visible; it often occurs gradually through rising rent, increasing property taxes, or reduced affordability over time.
Second, the dataset does not capture individuals who have already been displaced. This introduces survivorship bias, where those most affected by displacement are no longer represented in the data.
Third, structural factors such as housing policy, eviction practices, and informal displacement pressures are not directly included in the dataset, despite playing a critical role in shaping outcomes.
These limitations highlight a key principle of computational social justice: data is not neutral and is never complete. While quantitative analysis can reveal patterns, it must be interpreted alongside historical context and lived experience to fully understand inequality.
The findings of this project demonstrate that redevelopment without safeguards can contribute to displacement. Addressing this issue requires intentional, data-informed policy interventions.
Cities should implement stronger inclusionary zoning policies and require affordable housing units in developments near the BeltLine to ensure that long-term residents can remain.
Programs such as property tax relief, rent stabilization, and community land trusts can help prevent displacement by reducing financial pressure on existing residents.
Predictive modeling should be used to identify neighborhoods at high risk of displacement, allowing policymakers to intervene before residents are forced out.
Data-driven decision-making must include input from the communities most affected. Without this, redevelopment risks reinforcing the same inequalities it claims to address.
At its core, this project is not just about data—it is about people, place, and history.
The neighborhoods surrounding the BeltLine are not empty spaces waiting for development. They are communities shaped by generations of Black residents who built culture, identity, and economic networks in Atlanta. As housing costs rise and demographic patterns shift, the risk is not only economic displacement but also cultural erasure.
If current trends continue, the data suggests that many of these communities may no longer be able to remain in the spaces they helped create. This raises a critical question: who benefits from redevelopment, and at what cost?
This project demonstrates that data can do more than describe inequality—it can expose it, challenge it, and advocate for more equitable outcomes. The future of Atlanta is not just about development, but about ensuring that growth does not come at the expense of the communities that built the city.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (1899). The Philadelphia Negro: A social study. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Du Bois, W. E. B. (1903). The Negro problem: A series of articles by representative American Negroes of today. James Pott & Company.
Freeman, L. (2005). Displacement or succession? Residential mobility in gentrifying neighborhoods. Urban Affairs Review, 40(4), 463–491. https://doi.org/10.1177/1078087404273341
Immergluck, D., & Balan, T. (2018). Sustainable for whom? Green urban development, environmental gentrification, and the Atlanta BeltLine. Urban Geography, 39(4), 546–562. https://doi.org/10.1080/02723638.2017.1360041
Taylor, K.-Y. (2019). Race for profit: How banks and the real estate industry undermined Black homeownership. University of North Carolina Press.
Urban Institute. (2020). Gentrification and displacement: Measuring the impacts of neighborhood change. https://www.urban.org