Atlanta Regional Commission

The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the metro Atlanta, Georgia, USA region, defined as the 10-county area of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties, including the city of Atlanta. It also serves as the metropolitan planning organization for those and ten more counties in the region: Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Coweta, Forsyth, Hall, Newton, Paulding, Spalding, and Walton counties.[1]

ARC and its predecessor agencies have coordinated the planning efforts in the region since 1947, when the first publicly supported, multi-county planning agency in the United States was created. At that time, the Metropolitan Planning Commission (MPC) served DeKalb and Fulton counties and the city of Atlanta (which is already in both of those counties). Since then, ARC membership has grown to its current size of 10 counties and 63 municipalities.

The ARC is one of 12 regional commissions throughout Georgia. The ARC is funded through a number of sources: local, state and federal government entities and private funds.

Membership

The Board membership of the commission includes: 1) each county commission chairman in the 10-county region; 2) one mayor from each county (except Fulton County); 3) one mayor from the northern half of Fulton County and one mayor from the southern half of Fulton County; 4) the mayor of the City of Atlanta; 5) one member of the Atlanta City Council; 6) fifteen private citizens, one from each of the 15 multi-jurisdictional districts of roughly equal population, elected by the 23 public officials; and 7) one member appointed by the Board of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.

Agency structure and functions

The ARC is divided into numerous departments, covering a broad range of issues, from the region's growing senior population to region-wide transit issues to geographic information system data. The agency's structure and functions can be outlined as follows:

  • Center for Community Services: Aging & Health Resources Division, Homeland Security & Recovery Division, and Workforce Solutions Division
  • Center for Livable Communities: Community Development Division, Mobility Services Division, Natural Resources Division, Research & Analytics Division, and Transportation Access & Mobility Division
  • Center for Strategic Relations: Communications & Marketing Division, Community Engagement Division, and Governmental Affairs Division
  • Office of the Executive Director and Support services: Financial Services Division, General Services Division, Information Technology Division, Strategic Initiatives Division, Talent Management Division, and Secretary to the Board

Awards

Each fall, the ARC gives awards for noteworthy new projects. The categories are:

  • Development of Excellence, which usually goes to large projects like a redone town square
  • Exceptional Merit for Context Sensitive Neighborhood Infill Design
  • Exceptional Merit for Historic Preservation
  • Exceptional Merit for Infill Redevelopment
  • Livable Centers Initiative Achievement Award

Notes

Area

The ARC's 10-county intergovernmental-coordination area has a surface area of 2973.72 square miles, and its 20-county MPO area has a surface area of 6256.87 square miles.

References
  1. "The Atlanta Region". Atlanta Regional Commission. Atlanta Regional Commission. 2016. Archived from the original on 19 Jan 2016. Retrieved 11 Feb 2016. The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the 10-county Atlanta area, including Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale counties, as well as the City of Atlanta. ARC also produces and collects data for a larger, 20-county area for air quality purposes. These include the 10 counties above, plus Barrow, Bartow, Carroll, Coweta, Forsyth, Hall, Newton, Paulding, Spalding and Walton counties.
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