Centrality
Savannah was founded as a port city. The growth of the city from eighteenth to nineteenth century happened around Savannah port and its harbor area. As in that time, Savannah’s trade was dependent on river traffic like rafts and barges, the commercial and amenities were restricted to expand away from the port due to the lack of transportation modes. Intercity transportation was primarily dependent on water traffic and intra city mobility was restricted to predominantly pedestrian population. This resulted in the compact and dense growth of Savannah in its early period. Being a port city, Savannah was the central hub of commodity and retail. Goods and products were shipped through Savannah port and were taken far away to the mid-western states. Till date Savannah is the principal city in terms of accessibility of facilities and commodities. It is the retail and commercial hub of Chatham county of Georgia, as well as the south-eastern coast line of the States. Centrality changed in Savannah with the advent of Streetcar in mid nineteenth century and then with the dominance of automobiles. As the predominant mode of transportation between cities changed from river dependent modes to land and air traffics, the centrality of Savannah based on the port eventually disappeared. As the city of Savannah is surrounded with wetlands and marsh lands, the growth and expansion were not possible in a continuous manner. The city expanded with annexations in form of clusters around the Savannah city core. The land uses during the growth period of nineteenth and twentieth century were segregated and clustered. The existing land use map shows the clustering of institutional and commercial land uses spread all over the city neighborhoods. Savannah International Airport is another contributor to the decreasing centrality of Savannah. The area has eventually become the central attraction for commercial and retail activities. Another factor contributing to the centrality dispersion of Savannah is the change of economic character. Initially Savannah was depended on industries. With decline of industries and arrival of service based industry, Savannah basically replaced the brownfield industrial sectors with mixed clusters of facilities. These industrial pockets created small nucleus of activities taking over the centrality of amenities and activities which was once focused on the banks of Savannah River.
Decentralization
The key factors causing decentralization in Savannah was the growing dominance of automobiles and the shift of economic structure. As Savannah initially depended on Cotton and Rice production which was primarily traded through Savannah port, the city downtown was the key hub of economic activity. With the advent of streetcar, the city grew, however only concentrating around the Savannah’s main city center. Streetcar brought few mixed uses of land but even in that time Savannah was primarily a centralized city. The decline of cotton industry in nineteenth century initiated the dispersion of commercial hub of Savannah from the downtown to the peripheral region. As Savannah shifted from port based economy to more service based and land related trade economy, the focus on the historic Savannah disappeared. The historic evolution map of Savannah showcases the timeline of different physical development occurred with relation to the change of mobility modes. A significant observation in this regard is the vast expansion of development observed during automobile era which also resulted in the decentralization of functions and activities in Savannah. Also notable, in this regard, is the historic preservation movement occurred in Savannah during the twentieth century. The movement resulted in the rise of land value and restricted the abundance of new construction or replacement of old uses. This eventually made new construction outside the historic district more desirable and easy to accomplish. The decentralized amenities in Savannah happened in clusters. Where in one side we find industrial sectors along Savannah port, on other side we can find concentration of institutional areas like Hunter Army Airfield. A major trend towards decentralization is found in new private developments. Savannah Quarters owned by nation’s leading private developers of master planned and mixed use communities is one of the examples where self-sufficient communities are being created with their own retail, commercial, residential and office spaces. These amenity communities are the latest draws causing decentralization more prominent in Savannah.