This article examines the intersections of community activism and wilderness in the sprawling suburban and industrial landscapes of Houston, Texas, in the United States. The Houston metropolitan region's rapid urban development, laissez-faire land use planning, and world-class petrochemical industries provide a critical context to explore the material and conceptual relations of wilderness. Building upon recent debates regarding the production of nature, the article argues that wilderness is and always has been integrated into our everyday suburban landscapes. The empirical data discussed reveals the practices and processes (re)producing wilderness materially and conceptually within the contemporary relations of urban life. It challenges us to envision wilderness as internal to society and society as internal to wilderness. The results suggest that wilderness, instead of being external and in need of protection, is internal to the human experience and therefore internal to our urban landscapes. Résumé Cet article examine les intersections de l'activisme communautaire et en pleine nature dans les paysages suburbains et industriels que l'étalement autour de Houston, Texas, USA. Le développement urbain rapide de ses régions métropolitaines, la planification du laissez-faire, et les industries pétrochimiques de classe mondiale fournissent un contexte critique pour explorer la matière et les relations conceptuelles de l'espace naturel. Se fondant sur les débats récents concernant la production de la nature, l'article soutient que l'espace naturel a toujours été intégré dans nos banlieues. Les données empiriques examinées révèle les pratiques et les processus (re)produisant l'espace naturel matériellement et conceptuellement dans les relations contemporaines de la vie urbaine. Il nous incite à envisager l'espace naturel comme interne à la société, et la société en interne à l'espace naturel. Les résultats suggèrent que l'espace naturel, au lieu d'être externe et dans le besoin de protection, est interne à l'expérience humaine et donc interne à nos paysages urbains. Mots-clés: l'espace naturel, le développement urbain, la production de la nature, l'activisme communautaire, Houston, TX Resumen Este artículo examina las intersecciones del activismo comunitario y naturaleza en los crecientes paisajes suburbanos e industriales de Houston, Texas, en Estados Unidos. El rápido desarrollo urbano, el planeamiento liberal del uso de suelo y las industrias petroquímicas de nivel internacional en la zona metropolitana de Houston, proveen un importante contexto para analizar las relaciones materiales y conceptuales de la naturaleza. Con base en recientes debates sobre la producción de naturaleza, este artículo discute que la naturaleza es y siempre ha sido integrada en nuestro cotidiano paisaje suburbano. Los datos empíricos discutidos aquí, revelan las prácticas y los procesos que (re)producen la naturaleza material y conceptual dentro de las relaciones contemporáneas de la vida urbana. Esto nos estimula a concebir a la naturaleza...

This research examines spatial realignments within Georgia, pointing to the rise of a tripartite regional model consisting of declining urban cores, dynamic suburban sprouts, and stagnant rural poverty regions. Rapid growth and restructuring during the 1990s resulted in significant new patterns of development. A process of creative destruction impacted old manufacturing centers and led to a rapid rise in new high-tech sectors, without accompanying changes in historic poverty areas. Roughly dividing the state's population into corresponding thirds, these transformations portend shifts with both political and economic consequences at the dawn of the 21st century. Active intervention at the state, regional, and local levels will be needed to create a more balanced development pattern in the state in the future.

The lack of an adequate theoretical foundation to explain residential structure has bccome increasingly evident as researchers attempt to incorporate blighted areas of the city into a conceptual framework. Empirical evidence based on Cedar Rapids data indicates that the findings of social area analysts are applicable to the inner city with its downgraded socioeconomic character and abundant substandard housing. A case is made for decline and expansion, improvement and contraction, with respect to housing quality being instances of a common process of residential change. Expanding poverty and/or ghetto areas, coupled with intra-urban migration flows superimposed on a relatively fixed housing stock, suggest that decline follows a concentric ring expansion process most accelerated along sectors experiencing the most v L rapid out-migration, particularly in those

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This paper traces change in the South in recent decades that has resulted from industrialization, the Sunbelt attraction, urbanization, and development of the service economy. The "Boombelt" along 1-85 in the Piedmont region attracted much of the industrial expansion, particularly in North and South Carolina, and Georgia. The largest metropolitan areas in the region now account for the largest share of manufacturing output. City-building has also been propelled by the expansion of white-collar service industries, including headquarters locations which are disproportionately concentrated in Virginia, Florida, and Georgia. The role of Atlanta at the top of the urban hierarchy in the region and the tremendous rate of growth of urban corridors on the southeast and west coasts of Florida stand out. Along with dramatic socio-economic change, the South also experienced significant political realignment, agricultural restructuring, and ethnicity shifts in the past fifty years making the region more like the rest of the nation. The South has become a major global player in economic growth but rural areas still lag behind.