ABSTRACT
Suburbs are villains in much environmental thinking. They sprawl across good agricultural land and green belts rich in biodiversity, covering porous natural surfaces with concrete and other impermeable materials. Suburbs can be centres of creativity as much as urban centres. In the spirit of finding hope in unlikely places, this chapter focuses on the rich vein of life and living in suburban households. Suburbs need to be part of people Anthropocene thinking for two reasons. First, there is not time to completely remake people cities before climate change impacts disrupt their functioning. Retrofitting rather than starting again is a crucial strategy. Second, the fortress city model of high-density urban living is totally dependent on fossil fuel driven energy flows from outside the city. In a decarbonising economy, suburbs must be viewed rather differently. They provide a range of opportunities for water capture and storage, energy generation, food production and social support.
