Welcome to Edge City 2.0!
Released in 2023, the Edge City 2.0 Study provides a vision to guide the Perimeter's next chapter.
The regional success of Dunwoody's Perimeter can be attributed to the popularity of the area as a workplace for many major employers and a retail destination with Perimeter Mall at its core. Edge City 2.0 is a blueprint for strategic growth and defines the preferred future of the area based on collective input from elected officials, the DeKalb Board of the Perimeter Community Improvement District, major property owners, governmental partners, and community members. The plan focuses on activating Perimeter Center—with greenspace, mobility enhancements, and more—for residents, area workers, and visitors to enjoy.
A joint effort between the City of Dunwoody and the DeKalb Board of the Perimeter Community Improvement Districts (PCIDs), Edge City 2.0 was carried out in close coordination with a consultant team led by Pond & Company. Funding for the study was provided by a grant from the Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) through the organization’s Livable Centers Initiative Program (LCI). An LCI grant of $120,000 was matched with $30,000 from the City of Dunwoody for a total project cost of $150,000.
The project involved evaluating and understanding Perimeter Center’s current land use, development patterns, transportation network, surrounding cultural and natural resources, demographics, economics, and the needs and wishes of the community. At the end of researching and developing multiple visions for the future of the Perimeter Market, Pond & Company provided the City and its partners with an implementable roadmap for the next 20 years.
Edge City 2.0 emphasizes future development opportunities in proximity to the Dunwoody MARTA Station with most development activity taking place at what is currently the Perimeter Mall site and adjacent properties. Redevelopment would be concentrated around a central gathering space along Ashford Dunwoody Road, promoting outdoor space and connectivity across Perimeter Center. The vision calls for the scale of future development to be highest around the Dunwoody MARTA station and decrease to the north and east.
Planning History
The Edge City 2.0 advances the vision for the Perimeter Center character area identified in Dunwoody Next, the City’s 2020 – 2040 Comprehensive Plan. Dunwoody Next envisioned the Perimeter Center area as a more walkable, connected, and livable regional center. Edge City 2.0 carries the vision closer to fruition via focused visioning and scenario planning. We explored a range of planning choices and their potential outcomes, in effect “trying out” where the different scenarios might lead the community.
