Partnership for Southern Equity’s analysis of City of Atlanta development permits filed between 2010 and 2018 found that only 3% of all projects met the threshold requiring information or engagement of residents in the project, leaving most unaware of activities impacting their community until projects were a done deal.
Development Watch seeks to bring transparency to private land development by educating and leveraging trained community leaders as keepers of the public good and enabling them to see the early indicators of development coming, long before current systems may or may not seek their input. The overall goal of this program is to put the power of the development process into the hands of the communities that are most affected by it by giving them the tools to engage in said process and have a voice in how development happens in their neighborhoods.
The Development Watch Academy is a pilot project created to educate local residents on the commercial development process, the politics and finance behind commercial development, the history of development and land use in Atlanta, and how to engage and intervene in the development process. This Academy will equip participants with tools to identify the initial signs of gentrification in their communities, how to communicate with developers and policymakers, and hold them accountable to equitable development in the communities they wish to build in.