Atlanta’s housing crisis did not happen by accident. In a recent Georgia Public Broadcasting feature, Oglethorpe University professor Dr. Rhana Gittens Wheeler explains how decades of housing and development policies continue to shape where Atlantans live, who benefits from growth and which communities are left vulnerable to displacement.
The article, part of GPB’s and The Atlanta Voice’s new “Rooted” series, examines the historical foundations of Atlanta’s housing affordability challenges, tracing the lasting effects of redlining, exclusionary zoning, urban renewal and highway construction on communities across the region.
Wheeler, associate professor of communication studies at Oglethorpe University and author of “Ghosts of Atlanta: Cultural Gentrification of the Black Mecca,” helped connect these historical policies to present-day realities. Her analysis highlights how decisions made generations ago continue to influence property values, access to opportunity and patterns of investment and disinvestment throughout the city.
“It created a practice of creating spaces around race and racializing the way we do space and neighborhoods in the United States,” Wheeler told GPB. “A lot of the habits from those time periods didn’t necessarily just go away.”
The feature explores how redlining maps created during the 1930s labeled many Black neighborhoods as “hazardous,” limiting access to mortgages and investment while reinforcing patterns of segregation. According to Wheeler, those policies helped establish systems that continue to affect how neighborhoods are perceived, valued and developed today.
GPB also highlighted Wheeler’s scholarship on cultural gentrification, a concept that examines how communities can lose their cultural identity and historical memory long before longtime residents are physically displaced. Drawing on examples from Atlanta neighborhoods such as Blandtown, she argues that redevelopment can reshape not only who lives in a place, but also its connection to the people and stories that gave it meaning.
Throughout the article, Wheeler emphasizes that housing policy is about more than land use or economics. It influences community identity, access to opportunity and the preservation of local history. Understanding those connections, she suggests, is essential to addressing Atlanta’s housing challenges in a way that benefits both current and future residents.
The article is the first installment of “Rooted,” a yearlong reporting project that will examine housing affordability, displacement and community development across metro Atlanta while exploring potential solutions and pathways forward.
ABOUT RHANA GITTENS WHEELER
Dr. Rhana Gittens Wheeler is associate professor of communication studies at Oglethorpe University and the Chief Inclusive Excellence Officer. She is the author of “Ghosts of Atlanta: Cultural Gentrification of the Black Mecca,” which explores the intersections of race, place, memory and redevelopment in Atlanta. Her research focuses on urban communication, cultural identity, gentrification and community storytelling.
