The Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) is the regional planning and intergovernmental coordination agency for the
metro Atlanta
Metro Atlanta, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Atlanta–Sandy Springs–Alpharetta, GA Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metropolitan statistical area in the U.S. state of Georgia and th ...
, Georgia, USA region, defined as the 11-county area of
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
,
Clayton,
Cobb,
DeKalb,
Douglas
Douglas may refer to:
People
* Douglas (given name)
* Douglas (surname)
Animals
*Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking
* Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...
,
Fayette,
Forsyth,
Fulton,
Gwinnett,
Henry and
Rockdale counties. The
city of Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
is contained within this region. It also serves as the
metropolitan planning organization for those and nine more counties in the region:
Barrow,
Bartow,
Carroll,
Coweta,
Hall
In architecture, a hall is a relatively large space enclosed by a roof and walls. In the Iron Age and early Middle Ages in northern Europe, a mead hall was where a lord and his retainers ate and also slept. Later in the Middle Ages, the gre ...
,
Newton,
Paulding,
Spalding, and
Walton counties.
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
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
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 11 counties and 75 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 11-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 th
Georgia Department of Community Affairs
Agency structure and functions
The ARC is divided into numerous department covering a broad range of issues, from the region's growing senior population to region-wide transit issues to
geographic information system
A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a ...
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
References
External links
Atlanta Regional Commission
{{Authority control
Organizations based in Atlanta
Urban planning in Georgia (U.S. state)
Atlanta metropolitan area
Local government in Georgia (U.S. state)
Metropolitan planning organizations
Councils of governments