Benjamin Harrison West, of Atlanta, on July 14. West was a respected Georgia Tech professor who helped to shape the development of the city of Atlanta through his long career at the Atlanta Regional Commission. In 1999, West was honored with the naming of the Harry West Chair of Quality Growth and Regional Development in the Georgia Tech College of Architecture. One of his proudest accomplishments was joining the faculty at Georgia Tech, where he finished his career teaching as a professor of the practice of quality growth and regional development. West worked for 27 years as the executive director of the Atlanta Regional Commission, an organization that coordinates regional planning for the 10 counties in the metro-Atlanta area. In addition to creating programs to educate leaders on regional and urban issues, West is also credited with establishing reviews of development proposals to determine their regional impacts on water supply, roadways, and other infrastructure before construction could begin. The “Developments of Regional Impact” review process was later implemented statewide as part of the Georgia Planning Act of 1989. In 1991, West led what was considered the largest collaborative visioning and planning effort ever conducted in the United States at that time, known as VISION 2020. This community-oriented, decision-making process has been adopted by many other American communities, according to the ARC. “Harry could have chosen to pursue a comfortable retirement, but he instead decided to share his wisdom and experience by coming to work with the Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development as a Professor of Practice,” says College of Architecture Dean Steve French. “He made valuable contributions to our research and teaching missions over the past decade. But above all else, Harry was a kind and gentle soul, who really wanted to make a difference in this world.”
Twitter