The Suburban Land Question

Résumé 0

Urban and suburban development in the major world regions has routinely been treated as being very different in character. Much more commonly, researchers have written about “American”, or “African”, or “Chinese” cities without reference to suburban development elsewhere. In so doing, they have implied that the nation or region in question is distinctive and that comparisons are either impossible or unhelpful. This article suggests a framework for studying topics and issues of suburban development systematically by proposing three distinct frames of analysis: (i) processes that shape suburban land development and subsequent redevelopment, (ii) forms taken by development and redevelopment, and (iii) the associated policy/planning issues. We start with types of conditions that need to be considered by researchers who study the role of land in suburban development. Further we suggest that, despite local and regional differences, this framework is useful in any urban context, including those that are sometimes referred to as the Global North and Global South.