ABSTRACT
The majority of the world’s population now live in urban areas and the 21st century has been declared as the "urban age". However, closer inspection of where people live in cities, especially within so-called advanced liberal democracies such as Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States, reveals that most people live in different types of suburban environments.
Drawing together scholars from across the globe, this book provides a series of national, regional, and local case studies from Australia, Canada, Finland, France, Ireland, Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States to exemplify the diverse and dynamic nature and importance of suburbia in 21st century urban studies, city-building, and urbanism.
This book explores the evolving social, physical, and economic character of the suburbs and how structural processes, market dynamics, and government policies have shaped and transformed suburbia around the world. It highlights the continuing importance of the suburbs and the suburban dream, which lives on albeit under increasing challenges, such as the global financial crisis, structural racism, and the Covid-19 pandemic, which have given rise to various suburban nightmares.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|70 pages
Representations of Suburbia
chapter 2|15 pages
Fixing Post-suburbia
chapter 3|16 pages
Master Planned and Active Lifestyles Developments in Australia
chapter 4|22 pages
Suburban Shopping Malls in Melbourne, Australia
part II|84 pages
To Suburbia and Beyond
chapter 9|21 pages
Suburban Housing Estates in Finland
part III|100 pages
From Dreamscape to Nightmare?
chapter 10|23 pages
Worlds Away in Suburbia
chapter 13|22 pages
No Soft Landing for the Suburbs
part |27 pages
Conclusions