This book chronicles and explains the role of suburbs in North American cities since the mid-twentieth century. Examining fifteen case studies from New York to Vancouver, Atlanta to Chicago, Montreal to Phoenix, The Lifeof North American Suburbs traces the insightful connection between the evolution of suburbs and the cultural dynamics of modern society. Suburbs are uniquely significant spaces: their creation and evolution reflect the shifting demographics, race relations, modes of production, cultural fabric, and class structures of society at large. The case studies investigate the place of suburbs within their wider metropolitan constellations: the crucial role they play in the cultural, economic, political, and spatial organization of the city. Together, the chapters paint a compelling portrait of North American cities and their dynamic suburban landscapes.
Edited by:
Jan Nijman
Imprint: University of Toronto Press
Country of Publication: Canada
Dimensions:
Height: 229mm,
Width: 152mm,
Spine: 25mm
Weight: 260g
ISBN: 9781487520779
ISBN 10: 1487520778
Series: Global Suburbanisms
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 28 February 2020
Audience:
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
Primary
,
Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
List of Figures, Maps, and Tables Preface 1. Introduction: Elusive Suburbia Jan Nijman Part 1: Questioning North American Suburbia 2. Using Toronto to Explore Three Suburban Stereotypes, and Vice Versa Richard Harris 3. Mexico City: Elusive Suburbs, Ubiquitous Peripheries Liette Gilbert 4. Searching for Suburbia in Metropolitan Miami Jan Nijman and Tom Clery 5. Spatial Transformations in the Suburbs of the North Carolina Piedmont Region Fang Wei and Paul Knox Part 2: Changing Political Economies of Suburbanization 6. The Strange Case of the Bay Area Richard Walker and Alex Schafran 7. Vancouverism as Suburbanism Elliot Siemiatycki, Jamie Peck, and Elvin Wyly 8. Montreal: An Ordinary North American Metropolis? Claire Poitras and Pierre Hamel 9. New York’s Suburbs in a Globalized Metropolitan Region James Defilippis and Christopher Niedt Part 3: Race, Ethnicity, and the Remaking of Suburbia 10. Diverging Racial Geographies in Phoenix’s Postwar and Post–Civil Rights Suburbs Deirdre Pfeiffer 11. Suburbanization and the Making of Atlanta as the “Black Mecca” Katherine Hankins and Steve Holloway 12. Edmonton, Mill Woods, Amiskwaciy Waskahikan Rob Shields, Dianne Gillespie, and Kieran Moran 13. Economic Development and the New Immigrant Segregationist Politics in Suburban Chicago David Wilson Part 4: Contested Suburbs 14. Governance, Politics, and Suburbanization in Los Angeles Roger Keil and Derek Brunelle 15. Reaching Suburbia: Towards a Socially Just Transit System for Ottawa Caroline Andrew and Angela Franovic 16. Contested Spaces: Suburban Development in Halifax and Other Midsized Canadian Cities Jill L. Grant 17. Epilogue: Suburbs as Transitional Spaces Jan Nijman Contributors Index
Jan Nijman is Director and Distinguished University Professor at the Urban Studies Institute of Georgia State University, and professor of Geography at the University of Amsterdam.
Reviews for The Life of North American Suburbs
This timely and fascinating book - rooted in empirics but resting upon strong theoretical bases - gathers the work of eminent urban scholars, each presenting detailed and thoughtful analyses of suburbs and suburbanisation in their respective North American cities. Collectively, the chapters formulate a new, textured approach to suburbs. These are presented as places to live, and therefore as spaces of enjoyment, contestation, politics, tension, and storytelling - a kaleidoscopic view that firmly buries stereotypes of suburban uniformity. The book is essential reading for planners, urban geographers, and urban analysts: notwithstanding recent (over)emphasis on central cities and 'buzzing' neighbourhoods, the vast majority of metropolitan population - and population growth - remains suburban. - Richard Shearmur, OUQ, MCIP, Director, School of Urban Planning, McGill University Through the case studies presented in each of the chapters, The Life of North American Suburbs demonstrates the diversity and movement away from a stereotypical, post-war portrait of North American suburbs. - Elizabeth C. Delmelle, Department of Geography & Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte