ABSTRACT
In the current discourse on environmental and social sustainability, suburbs are typically described as mere roadblocks to the development of a more sustainable metropolis (Hildebrand 1999). The discourse suggests that to be more sustainable, suburbs must become more city-like and be redeveloped in ways that make them more dense and compact (Elkin, McLaren and Hillman 1991). The focus is on retrofitting suburbia physically in ways that improve their environmental sustainability. In this chapter, I argue that this sustainability turn in the debate about suburbia is, in fact, likely to produce a less socially sustainable metropolis and that reinvestment in the suburbs is occurring in ways that are in fact increasing social inequity within the metropolis more broadly.
