Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the range of suburban definitions that focus on physical, functional, and social dimensions as well as underlying processes pertinent to suburbanization. It discusses around the difficulty of definitions, noting how the city and suburb are deceptive terms. The book also examines India's suburbanization over different periods of time, with early suburban development, like in the Dublin case, influenced by British colonialism. It explores the shifting landscape of sexualities and recognizes how the intersection of sexuality, gender, class, race, and age shape lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans spaces in urban and suburban areas. The book describes the contemporary settlement of immigrants in the suburban periphery. It focuses on the development of new towns and master-planned communities in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s.