Doraville 2050
transforming doraville into a vibrant and a car free interconnected community
Academic: Urban Design Studio
Georgia Institute of Technology: Spring 2024
Team: Mrunmayee Pawar and Elham Khazanedar
Guide: Ellen Dunham-Jones, Joel Jassu, Yilun Zha
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Contributions:
Research, concept and design development, 3D diagramming, illustrative productions, post-production, design presentation.
This visionary plan expands the access and visibility of Doraville’s new downtown by enhancing walkability and car-lite / car-free lifestyle. The urban framework transforms the highway into a walkable boulevard, develops vibrant mixed-use districts, expands the greenway network, and prioritizes pedestrian, bike, and transit connectivity. Doraville 2050 envisions a future where Buford Highway is no longer a dividing line but a unifying green corridor. By prioritizing non-car transportation, the project will improve connectivity across Buford Highway and Doraville’s downtown area. This increased mobility will not only promote walking and cycling as healthy lifestyle choices, but it will also strengthen the local tax base. The car-lite/car-free retail district and the transformed farmers market district will become vibrant hubs, attracting new businesses and residents alike. Ultimately, the project aims to foster a stronger sense of community by providing central gathering spaces and a shared green corridor, making Doraville a more livable, equitable, and resilient city.
Urban Design Framework
Framework developed on the primary goal to connect the site and its surrounding neighborhoods but with less cars. The three big moves forming this framework deal with the major issues of pedestrian infrastructure of Buford highway, neighborhood connectivity, and sprawling lots
Revitalize Buford Highway:
Convert Buford Highway into a slowtraffic boulevard with dedicated lanes for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transportation. Implement traffic calming measures to prioritize safety and create a more inviting environment.
Peachtree Creek Greenway Extension:
Extend the existing Peachtree Creek Green way to connect adjacent residential neighborhoods to the Buford Highway corridor. This will provide safe and convenient pedestrian access to downtown Doraville and the revitalized retail areas.
Mixed-Use Development:
Encourage the development of mixed-use properties along the boulevard, offering residential units above commercial spaces, rehousing ethnic businesses and restaurants. This will create a lively and walkable environment.
Master Plan
The master plan envisions transforming Buford Boulevard into a vibrant, two-lane, multimodal corridor with wide sidewalks, bike lanes, and landscaped medians. Surrounding areas would become a car-free, mixed-use neighborhood featuring retail, housing, offices, parks, and community spaces. The farmers market would evolve into a lively, pedestrian-friendly festival street and public square. A network of greenway trails, including the Peachtree Creek Greenway, would connect the district, farmers market, and nearby residential areas, creating a seamless, sustainable, and people-oriented urban environment.
1. Car free zone
2. Care lite zone
3. City Park
4. Neighborhood Park
5. Re-forested park
6. Peachtree Creek Green Trai
7. Farmer’s Market Retail Neighborhood
8. Public Plaza
9. Pedestrian Underpass
10. Retail/ Mixed-Use
11. Mobility Hub
12. MARTA
13. Residential
14. Offices
15. Townhouses
16. Parking
17. Kaufman Property (Touch me not!)
Illustrative project diagramming
Building density on the site proposed includes Smaller mixed-use buildings with retail on ground floor along the Buford to maintain the character of Buford Highway & taller buildings along I-285. Townhouses and smaller building proposed in the interiors of the neighborhood in respect to the context of the site.
The proposed plan includes using downtown streets from Marta to our site, creating a pedestrian-friendly street grid within the site parcels, and ensuring all major streets connect Peachtree Road to Buford Highway.
The plan includes retail mixed-use blocks on the farmer’s market site for future development, a Mobility Hub along Buford as a connector for the bisected site, tall office buildings along I-285, residential buildings with ground-floor retail in line with Downtown and Buford, and townhouses positioned according to their neighborhood context.
Building density on the site proposed includes Smaller mixed-use buildings with retail on ground floor along the Buford to maintain the character of Buford Highway & taller buildings along I-285. Townhouses and smaller building proposed in the interiors of the neighborhood in respect to the context of the site.
Transforming Buford into a Slow Traffic Boulevard
Sections showcasing car free and car lite streets, residential clusters & Buford being converted from 7 lane fast traffic highway to a 4 lane slow traffic boulevard
The current Buford highway consists of seven fast traffic lanes
The proposed design of Buford Highway transforms it into a slow-traffic boulevard
Comprehensive section explaining the car-free, car-lite and reforested zones
The current Buford highway consists of seven fast traffic lanes
Transforming the Buford Farmer's Market
As we value the Buford highway farmers market role in the community, we assume the building may not viable in 25 years. If so, we propose to repurpose the farmers market into a humanscale, open-air market and festival neighborhood. The new market design incorporates adaptive reuse of existing structures, artisan markets, food stalls, cultural events, public plazas, gathering spaces, greenery, and public art installations, all of which celebrate local culture and diversity, creating a lively destination that attracts visitors year-round.
Adding retail to Buford
Adding residential
Transforming Buford Farmer’s Market into a human-scale, open-air market and festival neighborhood
Adding retail to Buford
Digital workflow + Software used:
Enscape
ArcGIS
Urban Footprint
AutoCAD
Photoshop
Illustrator
InDesign
Rhino 3D
SketchUp
Vray
Lumion
Rendering and post production
Drawing, editing, production, documentation
3D modelling
Analysis and Mapping