The Politics of Mobility and Business Elites in Atlanta, Georgia

In this paper I examine how the politics of mobility is an important factor when considering the contentious nature of urban growth debates. By a politics of mobility I mean the political struggle over what type of transportation mode—be it automobile, transit, or walking— is developed in a city, and how urban space is configured to make various modes functional. More importantly, the politics of mobility is an extension of competing and contested ideologies and normative values about how the city should be configured and for whom. I provide a case study of Atlanta, Georgia’s business elites and their negotiation of the politics of mobility as they confronted a mobility crisis of congestion and air pollution. This paper provides a platform for further comparative research on urban growth debates in an era of increasing environmental and social problems stemming from transportation policy.