Urban / Rural Hybrids: The Urbanisation of Former Suburbs (Urfsurbs)

Abstract

In pace with changing social developments, cities undergo regular processes of transformation. Thus, following a temporary preference for suburban living, the inner city has for some years now been enjoying a residential renaissance. A further, as yet little noticed, trend is the urbanisation of former suburbs. Encompassing urbanisation and gentrification processes found in the inner-ring suburbs, this entails a breaking of established dichotomies and the development of hybrid phenomena that can be encapsulated in the acronym URFSURBS: ‘urbanisation of former suburbs’. Focusing on examples from Southern California and Greater Paris, this article places these developments in context and outlines their implications for future research.

Framing the Debate on Suburbanization in North America and Germany Conceptually—Edward Soja’s Concept of “Regional Urbanization” Revisited

“…. ] to an increase in single persons and pairs whose lifestyle and preferences are markedly urban" [39] (p. 27). An "urbanized" suburbia can also be attractive for couples without children or singles who are looking for a "synthesis of suburban comfort and urban opportunities" [39] (p. 28).…”

“…to an increase in single persons and pairs whose lifestyle and preferences are markedly urban" [39] (p. 27). An "urbanized" suburbia can also be attractive for couples without children or singles who are looking for a "synthesis of suburban comfort and urban opportunities" [39] (p. 28). Kühne also studied the Greater Paris area and reports that "Levallois-Perret a former industrial and working-class area has become a flourishing urban municipality attracting so-called 'yuppies' and 'dinkies' with accommodation tailored to their tastes and expectations, and a lifestyle offer including cafés, boutiques and parking facilities" [39] (p. 30).…”

“…An "urbanized" suburbia can also be attractive for couples without children or singles who are looking for a "synthesis of suburban comfort and urban opportunities" [39] (p. 28). Kühne also studied the Greater Paris area and reports that "Levallois-Perret a former industrial and working-class area has become a flourishing urban municipality attracting so-called 'yuppies' and 'dinkies' with accommodation tailored to their tastes and expectations, and a lifestyle offer including cafés, boutiques and parking facilities" [39] (p. 30). In this case, Kühne [39] makes explicit reference to the Young Urban Professionals' models of life as well as to that of double income couples without children.…”

Hybrid suburbia: New research perspectives in France and Southern California

“…Kühne, Schönwald and Weber have in this context coined the acronym URFSURBS: the urbanisation of former suburbs (Introduction above; Kühne 2016; Kühne et al 2016Kühne et al , 2017Kühne 2017). For a new relation has arisen "between urban restructuring, socio-demographic change and the recent growth of fragmented, hybrid and/or patchwork socio-spatial arrangements in former suburban areas" (Kühne et al 2016: 25).…”

“…The concept of urban-rural hybrid (Kühne 2012;Kühne et al 2016), although itself constituted by contradictions, oppositions, and ambiguities (Kühne, Schönwald 2015;Weber 2017), has proven a useful tool with which to approach differences between the city and the country without imputing any such dichotomy. This is so because the differentiation it proposes is "based on structural (levels of building), functional (levels of centrality), and lifestyle (urban/suburban/rural mix), as well as emotional (sense of belonging) and cognitive (especially in settlement research)words in the necklace of settlements traditionally thought of as 'suburbia'.…”