Abstract
As any social phenomenon, the evolution of suburbs can be seen as at the confluence of two contradictory sets of forces. There are first forces of change, which propel suburbs in new directions. Much of the present literature on suburbs highlights suburban transitions in the form of social and economic diversification, and of new forms of development. The article attempts to rebalance the discourse on suburbs by emphasizing forces of durability. It does not deny the importance of observed suburban transitions, but argues that there is, at the heart of North American suburbs, an enduring automobility-induced transportation dynamic, which reverberates on most aspects of suburbs. The article explores the mechanisms undergirding suburban durability by linking the suburban transportation dynamic to the self-reproductive effects of a suburban lifestyle and culture and their political manifestations. These forces impede planning attempts to transform suburbs in ways that make them more environmentally sustainable. To empirically ground its argument, the article draws on two Toronto region case studies illustrating processes assuring the persistence of the durable features of North American suburbs: the layout of large suburban multifunctional centres and the themes raised by Rob Ford during his successful 2010 mayoralty electoral campaign.
Highlights
While most of the literature emphasizes the transformation and diversity of the North American suburb, the present article concentrates on enduring fundamental features present across these suburbs
While the article has acknowledged the existence of profound transformations over the past decades in the nature of the constituting parts of the North American suburb, it has identified a great deal of consistency over time in how it operates
The article contended that the characteristic that best captures the specificity of the North American suburb is the relationship between, on the one hand, a generally low-density built form that is functionally specialized and adapted to the car, and on the other, a nearly generalized dependence on the automobile
Summary
Suburbanization, the vote, and changes in federal and provincial representation and influence between inner cities and suburbs in large Canadian urban regions, 1945–1999. A. Walks (Ed.), The urban political economy and ecology of automobility: Driving cities, driving inequality, driving politics Pierre Filion is a Professor at the School of Planning of the University of Waterloo His areas of research include the relation between transportation and land use, metropolitan-scale planning and suburban areas. He has co-edited a book on suburban infrastructure about to be published by the University of Toronto Press, and is presently investigating the dynamics of metropolitan sub centres across Canada
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