pesky definitions-suburbia, suburban....

What is this a picture of? How do we define this and what assumptions and arbitrary decisions are collectively necessary to qualify this place as.....


Suburbia?


Wikipedia offers a conservative definition which emphasizes the residential history and characteristics of the suburban phenomenon. This historical approach is accurate up to a point because it gives proper credit to the transportation networks (train first, then automobile) that made it possible. Where any common definition of suburbia breaks down is when we try to apply a useful metric that can allow for a claim that something has the appropriate composition and density to qualify as a suburb. For example, I'm not sure that I live in a suburb--although it has features--primarily single-family, detached residences--that are definitely suburban, but the density and the proximity to the city "center" are different than what is portrayed in this photo. I like to claim that I live in an "urban" condition, but I have less credibility than someone who lives in a high-rise in Boston or a mansion on Commonwealth Avenue. Also, at what point does someone who lives in Weston or Framingham have a legitimate claim to living in the "country?"


Also, the focus on residential use patterns is no longer legitimate because manufacturing, research, retail, professional services and entertainment uses all have an increasing presence in the "suburban" area. This phenomenon is the major theme of Joel Kotkin's research of demographic trends in the U.S. that he presents in his book The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050. He regards the suburb as a dynamic and vital form of human settlement and provides anecdotes and statistics that attempt to counter James Kunstler's claim that we have created a "geography of nowhere."

I think both are right, and I think that Kotkin's more important claim has to do with the larger phenomenon of decentralization and suburban development as one of many symptoms of changing patterns of human organization. The picture of thoses highrises in Seoul in the last post is of a suburb within a city. The notion of a downtown or a city center is antiquated and unnecessary because we have the capacity and resources to make "downtown" where we need it.

In the meantime, I adjourn the discussion about the suburb. More about architecture in the next post.