City Sense and Suburban Design: Planners' Perceptions of the Emerging Suburban Form

Abstract

Problem: As suburbs have grown, become more racially diverse, and become denser in recent years, the planning and design of suburban development has been fundamentally transformed. Is urban design influencing contemporary suburban form, and does this have implications for public policy? Purpose: This article examines how certain urban design ideas, images, and values, that I call city sense because they previously influenced the planning and design of cities rather than suburbs, are now influencing suburban design. Methods: I surveyed and interviewed senior planners in Southern California suburbs, asking them to compare urban design values and physical design elements in both innovative and typical development and redevelopment projects in their municipalities. Results and conclusions: I find considerable agreement among planners that innovative projects are more likely than typical projects to introduce city sense into suburban design and to have a positive impact on suburban form. The surveyed planners believe that innovative projects contribute most significantly to improving visual quality and sense of place, and least significantly to addressing inequities. Takeaway for practice: Planners' views on innovative projects in Southern California indicate that they use urban design values and physical design elements to address some of the problems of growing metropolitan regions, and these design values and elements have potential to influence suburbs positively. Research support: This research was supported by a grant from the University of California, Irvine, Academic Senate Council on Research, Computing, and Library Resources; a grant from the American Planning Association Urban Design and Preservation Division; and by a faculty fellowship from the John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation.