BY: Taqiyyuddeen Saleem
Over the last 10 years of my life I have worked in residential and commercial real estate in the Metro Atlanta area. The other day I got to thinking about the implications of population growth and technological advances on Atlanta over the next 40 years. Where will people want to live? How will they commute? Is the city equipped to handle such huge population growth? Will new technologies save the day? How will changes in technology affect how people want to live? These are some of the questions that came to mind and which I look forward to exploring in this blog.
Growth is a good thing if you are on the right track or have a shortage of population, but can be a very troubling thing if you are ill prepared for it. When we look at the condition of the 10 major American cities, it is safe to say that they are not prepared to have there population increase by 100%-200% over the next 40 years. This forecast growth in population is signaling the emergence of many opportunities and challenges for city planners and business people. Challenges and opportunities are two sides of the same coin and the capacity of our city to realize the potential of the time coming is in large part centered around its business owners and politicians.
When looking at the impact of technology and population growth on Atlanta two things are clear. The right people create value and drive demand. The right companies create value and drive demand. As long as major corporations with the capacity to drive/understand consumer interest are interested in major cities I think big cities will flourish There is great value in creating hubs or clusters of people for corporations. It allows them to reach there markets in a much easier and low cost fashions. Corporations want density because it allows for easier access to there workforce and there consumers.
People like to live in cities because it gives an impression (albeit the right city) of security and power. People clustering can also mean diversity and social opportunity. Clusters mean less commute times to get to things that are important to you. Clusters are the birth place of cultural explosions and technological ideas. Well planned and executed cites can mean options to many different things...jobs, dates, living situations, friends, culture and the arts, and education to name a few things. Thus if we assume that even with the risk for disease and other cluster related problems, there is a stronger pull for people to live together in cities.
Provided cites are things of the future then Atlanta needs to guard its development and make sure that it is pioneering in technology, sanitation, education, jobs, culture, and city aesthetics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmyIgSD41fQ - Managing population growth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b98JmQ0Cc3k - Another video on population growth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnXX4iiVI9s - The future of real estate
I think that Atlanta is going to be a great place for population growth and future technology. I do think that people are going to gravitate to Atlanta because of all the many new advances that they are going to have to offer in the future.
ReplyDeletePopulation growth in major cities like Atlanta will have both positive and negative sides to it. The positives will include increased social opportunity, a stronger workforce, and more innovation for the future. However, with this type of large population growth projected for the next forty or so years there will be some consequences. These could include increased pollution, more crime, and simply a scarcity of resources. Cities like Atlanta must continue trying to find ways and resources to cope with this projected increase in population that will likely occur across many major cities.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting article on Atlanta and its growing population. We are headed in a very positive direction in terms of population and technological advances. There will also be some negative aspects in terms of pollution and scarcity of sources. It will be interesting to see how we adapt to such changes.
ReplyDeleteAtlanta is definitely a primed place to grow due to how cheap it is and the technological advancements. The entertainment industry in particular has been exponentially growing and is soon to be a major source of income in Atlanta. It will be interesting to see how the city continues to grow.
ReplyDeleteAtlanta is definitely still growing and establishing itself as a major city, and population growth could prove to be a challenge without the proper technology. It would be interesting to see how smartphone apps such as "Zillow" are impacting urban migration and growth.
ReplyDeleteI would love to see Atlanta grow in technology. The google fiber is one thing that will really move this city forward and make it that much better. This would be the premier city for this to take place
ReplyDeleteAtlanta would be a prime city to see a growth in technology. A lot of companies headquarters are here and it is already a city of many opportunities. I wonder how Atlanta would do competing against NYC.
ReplyDeleteAtlanta is a great city with a ton of potential. So long as the city can continue to grow and flourish, I believe that this city can be even greater than it is today. The point that was made about clusters being incubators for cultural explosion is very true, and I would love to see how Atlanta turns out in the next 25 years as the population here grows. Hopefully technology is able to keep up.
ReplyDeleteAtlanta technology is growing with each day which shows major indications on where the city is headed in the future. Atlanta will become a hot bed for technology in the future great article!
ReplyDeleteThe problem of overpopulation has long been one that has been largely ignored by the masses, it is in human nature to recreate, and until people begin to value the conservation of our planet over their individual desires to have children, the dilemma will continue to go unsolved.
ReplyDeleteAs an Atlanta native, I'm extremely happy to see a technological advance. This is a great place to live and grow up in and this will just add to the city even more!
ReplyDeleteAnything that promotes the advancement of this great city of mine I fully support. Everyone loves the Atlanta lifestyle, music, fashion, and etc so its only right to continue to grow.
ReplyDeleteAfter living here for roughly 3 years, I have seen first-hand the difference in population in just these last years. Atlanta's technological advancements seem to reflect this population swell and hopefully will become more helpful with the city's evolution in the years to come.
ReplyDeleteAfter living in Atlanta and seeing the technically advances in the city are very important and needed. good to see the city progressing.
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