7. Suburban Governance In Western Europe

European Urban and Regional Studies

2021

Today, suburbs and urban fringes are pivotal places for understanding contemporary urban transformations because the majority of the world’s urban population live in suburbs. Suburbanization (i.e. the process of combining the non-centric population, economic growth, and spatial expansion) and suburbanisms (suburban ways of living) are key concepts for observing these transformations, framed under the umbrella of the post-suburban theoretical framework. This paper relies on a post-suburban standpoint as it enables the complexity of the diverse transformations at the urban edges to be addressed. On such basis, this paper discusses the outcomes of a qualitative case study conducted on the most recently built neighbourhood of Fiano Romano, a suburb of Rome that has faced a number of socio-spatial transformations over the past two decades. The study illustrates the diverse complexities related to the provision of welfare services and public amenities such as water and social infrastructures. In so doing, the article unfolds the shape of a ‘new suburbia’ characterized by emerging socio-spatial changes that lie in processes of peripheralization, which characterize many contemporary post-Fordist suburban areas, especially at the present time of the coronavirus crisis. The article points out the centrality of suburban ways of living in studying issues involving both spatial planning and governance of welfare. Furthermore, the article highlights the idea that new inequalities and deprivations are taking place in diverse suburban areas, and that such aspects deserve further governance agendas able to meet the suburban social demands that differ from traditional urban vulnerabilities.

Section: Post-suburbia From Global To Localmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socio-spatial transformations at the urban fringes of Rome: Unfolding suburbanisms in Fiano Romano

European Urban and Regional Studies

2021

“…Pagliarin and De Decker (2018) point out that post-suburbia stresses the current political inconsistencies inherent in the emergent uneven development of different sizes, timings, and diverse geographical contexts. According to Phelps and Tarazona Vento (2015), post-suburbia is a key to understanding contemporary suburbanization in its heterogeneity, by tackling the variety of capitalisms, welfare, planning, housing systems, land ownership, industry structures, and ideologies present. In other words, the post-suburban ultimate aim is to provide a geographical and conceptual framework for political action (Keil and Young 2011).…”

Section: Post-suburbia and Suburbanismsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Post-suburban arrival spaces and the frame of ‘welfare offloading’: notes from an Italian suburban neighborhood

Urban Research & Practice

Bovo

2021

Drawing upon the debates on 'suburbanisms' and 'arrival space', this article explores the complexities for welfare governance in multiethnic peripheries.The paper bridges two themes of the contemporary 'suburban century': the intensified global migration flows and the peripheral condition of suburbs worldwide; the work refers to the Municipality of Pioltello, a multiethnic suburban area in Milan's region. This double-sided perspective reveals governance dynamics, here discussed through the concept of 'welfare offloading'. In the observed neighborhood, governmental complexities disclose profound interdependencies with the region's urban core and across municipalities; welfare tensions are 'offloaded' from the central core to peripheral regions.

“…In a nutshell, post-suburbia is a key to understanding contemporary suburbanization in its heterogeneity, by tackling the variety of capitalisms, welfare, planning, housing systems, land ownership, industry structures, and ideologies present (Phelps & Tarazona Vento, 2015). In so doing, the post-suburban provides a geographical and conceptual framework for political action (Young & Keil, 2014).…”

Section: Unsolved Knots: Conceptual Disputes and Governance Challengesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suburban studies: State of the field and unsolved knots

2019

Geography Compass

Over the last two decades, suburban studies have emerged from a call for a new conceptual order to go beyond the traditional dichotomies of the urban realm, namely, the centre‐periphery division. Such an approach distinguishes the city and suburbs as two separate entities, which hampers a better understanding of urbanization overall. Previously, studies of suburban areas have been interested in urban growth and regional development, albeit peripheral to the core themes of the research field. Yet a continuity of studies focusing on suburbs is appearing, and a proliferation of concepts has been produced to describe the diverse suburban forms according to specific features. Furthermore, suburbanization has now assumed a global dimension, as demonstrated by several recent studies and different new urban theories including “post‐metropolis,” “planetary urbanization,” and “polycentric metropolis.” This article aims at pursuing a “suburban debate” by providing an overview of the current state of research while pointing out the main frictions and unsolved issues of this proliferating discussion. First, conceptual frictions that travel worldwide are addressed and discussed. Then, contemporary issues and challenges regarding the governance of areas at the “urban edges” are highlighted as fundamental aspects to cope with while observing the socio‐spatial and socio‐economic polarizations that are occurring in the constant (sub)urban expansion, as recently addressed by several scholars.