The River Beneath the World’s Busiest Airport

While researching my book Flight Path, which is about the neighborhoods that were erased by our ever-growing airport, I learned about the houses, businesses, schools and churches that were swallowed during the years of airport expansion. The creeks, however, could not be completely erased, so we still have these fragile remnants of lost communities.

That history and context has been integral to my role as Project Coordinator of Finding the Flint, which is a joint effort of American Rivers, The Conservation Fund, and the Atlanta Regional Commission to reveal these hidden headwaters and the Upper Flint River in a way that restores healthy river flows and connects communities. It’s a big vision for a healthier river and better quality of life in the airport area, comprised of project concepts that meaningfully incorporate the urban headwaters into the plans and identity of the Atlanta Aerotropolis.

Aerotropolis planning—a new term for collaborative, airport-centered regional planning—could begin to repair the physical and cultural conflicts between the growing airport and its surrounding communities. Finding the Flint proposes key opportunities for the river and Aerotropolis to come together. The headwaters can provide the centerpiece for new, river-focused parks, connected trails and public spaces. Meanwhile, green infrastructure can address flooding while protecting Atlanta’s most valuable infrastructure investment, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.

Finding the Flint builds off years of research, planning, coalition building, and big ideas for the Flint’s headwaters in the airport area. It is composed of many distinct projects along the headwaters, public and private, at a range of scales. Each project depends on local partners with their own community goals and opportunities to impact the river. Luckily, our core team has both the technical expertise and relationships to bring stakeholders together to focus on restoration projects.

For generations, this area has been defined by the airport, and suffered a negative reputation because of it. Now we know that these communities are not only defined by the airport, but also by the headwaters of Flint River. Creating the world’s busiest and most efficient airport in an otherwise sleepy southern town was not an easy task, and it will take that kind of money and innovation to integrate the Flint River back into the landscape. Finding the Flint’s vision for Atlanta’s southside includes the world’s greatest airport and thriving neighborhoods, with the restored Flint headwaters connecting it all.