Network-Based Development in Chattanooga, Tennessee: Processes and Potentials

Chattanooga is a city of networks. The goal of this project is to provide examples of how developers, by tapping into Chattanooga’s most vital networks, can create buildings that speak to the city’s unique character, build interest in the city, and foster a stronger future for Chattanooga.

Chattanooga has four networks that serve as its backbone. They are the Cultural Network, the Blue Green Network, the Fiber Optic Network and the Dwelling Network. These networks are linkages between people and places, bound by common hopes and affinities. They are platforms for social connection, economic growth and physical change.

Three developments serve as examples of the development logic employed for this project. They are situated on a site in Chattanooga that sits in close proximity to powerful elements from each network, just north of the Tennessee River and the heart of downtown. These buildings illustrate a new kind of development logic, one that asks how to tap into the city’s strongest networks, and by doing so, strengthen the key elements of a city’s cultural, ecological, economic and technological future.