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A Postsuburban World? An Outline of a Research Agenda

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  • Nicholas A Phelps

    (Bartlett School of Planning, University College London, 22 Gordon Street, London WC1H 0QB, England)

  • Andrew M Wood

    (Department of Geography, University of Kentucky, 1457 Patterson Office Tower, Lexington, KY 40506-0027, USA)

  • David C Valler

    (Department of Planning, Oxford Brookes University, Gipsy Lane, Oxford OX3 0BP, England)

Abstract

The emergence over the last 30–40 years of what is variously termed edge city, edgeless, and postsuburban development in North America and elsewhere raises a set of challenges for urban theory and existing ways of understanding the politics of urban growth and management. These challenges and their global import have been outlined in their broadest terms by members of a ‘Los Angeles School’. In this paper we try to develop the detail of some of these challenges in ways that might allow for comparative analysis. We begin by considering three analytical dimensions along which distinctively postsuburban settlements might be identified. These dimensions are not without their limitations but we regard them as a heuristic device around which to centre ongoing comparative research. We then go on to highlight three political contradictions attending postsuburban growth which appear to flow from some of these defining dimensions. To the extent that such postsuburban growth and politics are distinctive, they pose important challenges to established theories of urban politics. We briefly consider these challenges in the conclusion of the paper.

Suggested Citation

  • Nicholas A Phelps & Andrew M Wood & David C Valler, 2010. "A Postsuburban World? An Outline of a Research Agenda," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 42(2), pages 366-383, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:42:y:2010:i:2:p:366-383
    DOI: 10.1068/a427
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Sadowski, Arkadiusz & Wojcieszak-Zbierska, Monika Małgorzata & Beba, Patrycja, 2021. "Territorial differences in agricultural investments co-financed by the European Union in Poland," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
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    5. Suzanne Vallance, 2014. "Living on the Edge: Lessons from the Peri-urban Village," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 1954-1969, November.
    6. Cameron Johnson & Tom Baker & Francis L Collins, 2019. "Imaginations of post-suburbia: Suburban change and imaginative practices in Auckland, New Zealand," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(5), pages 1042-1060, April.
    7. Cattivelli, Valentina, 2020. "Planning peri-urban areas at regional level: The experience of Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna," MPRA Paper 101189, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    11. Kim, Hyungkyoo & Lee, NaYeon & Kim, Seung-Nam, 2018. "Suburbia in evolution: Exploring polycentricity and suburban typologies in the Seoul metropolitan area, South Korea," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 92-101.
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    14. Rahel Nüssli & Christian Schmid, 2016. "Beyond the Urban–Suburban Divide: Urbanization and the Production of the Urban in Zurich North," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(3), pages 679-701, May.

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