Boundaries Between a City and Its Suburbs: the Case Study of Two Greek Cities, Volos and Larissa

It is generally accepted that there aren’t any plain boundaries between a city and its suburbs. Different investments have been applied on the subject such as that by Mills and Hamilton, or the “edge city†theory by Joel Garreau or even the “urban field†concept by Friedman and Miller. The previous theories describe the resulting space as “a thick, fuzzy boundary between rural and urban uses†. On the other side, though, there are cases of cities in which the limits between them and their suburbs are clearly distinct. Resultantly, it is interesting to investigate the topological and morphological constitution of space, which occurs beyond the urban net, through the phenomenon of suburbanisation. In order to clarify the spatial morphology among urban and suburban space, two case studies in Greece will be examined, Volos and Larisa, two middle class cities, that have a different way of suburban development. Finally, through a comparative presentation of the case studies results there will be extended conclusions that concern the contemporary Greek sub- urban space.