Abstract des Autors

Just south of downtown Atlanta, three combined sewers merge, carrying both stormwater and sanitary sewage. Sport stadiums upstream exacerbate routine flooding, and untreated wastes have degraded properties and quality of life for generations, resulting in environmental injustice for the majority Black neighborhoods downstream. The decision to locate two sports stadiums in this area, and subsequent redevelopments of the stadium sites, have been tied to racialized processes of transition and transformation of urban space, including segregation, displacement, and gentrification. In this chapter, we first document the history of flooding problems in Peoplestown and Summerhill prior to construction of a stadium in the headwaters of this combined sewershed, which is also near the intersection of three major interstate highways. We then situate the stadium development as coordinated with a suite of urban renewal projects that displaced and segregated Black communities, while also facilitating the restructuring of the city for white flight and suburbanization. Finally, we examine 21st-century responses to the flooding problems exacerbated by the stadiums in these neighborhoods, which are now fighting displacement caused by the redevelopment of the stadium, as well as environmental gentrification that has been spurred by flood and sewage control projects.