Suburbanism as a Way of Life, Slight Return

Abstract

Much attention has been given to increasing dominance of the post-war suburbs, and the concomitant rise of 'suburbanism' in ways of life in the 'post-metropolis'. However, the meaning of suburbanism is rarely specified and there have been insufficient attempts to theorise its relationship to the urban. Drawing on the dialectical analyses of Henri Lefebvre, this article presents a theory of suburbanism as a subset of urbanism, with which it is in constant productive tension. Six distinct dimensions of the urbanism-suburbanism dialectic are identified, derived from extrapolating Lefebvre's urban theory into second-and third-order analyses. These aspects of suburbanism are conceptualised not as static characteristics but as qualities that dynamically flow through, rather than define, particular places. Suburbanism is thus conceptualised separately from those places often termed suburbs, opening up the potential for interaction between these dimensions and the lived realities of everyday urban life and politics.

Piecemeal Urbanisation at the Peripheries of Lagos

“…As such it is a transitional space and breaks down the urban-rural dichotomy and denotes not so much a place as a region (Adell 1999:6). This notion can perhaps be furthered by the consideration of the process of peripheral expansion as a dialectic (Walks 2012) that it is not apart from the urban proper but is in constant creative tension with it. In this way the periphery not only grows due to forces exerted by the city but it also reciprocally produces conditions that impact urban 'ebbs and flows' (Mabin et al 2013:2).…”

Understanding Mobilities for Designing Contemporary Cities

“…Here consolidated habits linked to our way of commuting, living and consuming are progressing, giving way to new practices, only partly comprehensible on the basis of some of the internationally available theories and conceptualizations. Also for this reason, various names have been proposed for these places in which traditional logics of urban space are reconfigured (Keil 2013;Brenner 2013b;Young and Keil 2010;Walks 2013). At the same time, peri-urban areas tend to share some key features that have by now attracted the attention of researchers and policy analysts alike (Nilsson et al 2013;Tosics 2013;Phelps and Wu 2011).…”

Mountain Condominiums. A Discussing of Settlement and Dwelling on the Outskirts of an Alpine City

“…If we agree that peri-urbanisation is a process of building one part of a city and that it happens not merely because of physical settlement features but also as a way of life (Walk, 2013) that is based on a commuting culture founded on the development of urban infrastructures, then we can consider some peculiar factors that lead to such new urban ways of life in a mountain context. People whose lives gravitate around the city of Trento inhabit or use (permanently or temporarily) the area that includes the city, its adjacent suburbs and the various towns in the valleys around it.…”