Variations of Suburbanism E-Book

• Herausgeber: ibidem
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Serie: Städtebau - Architektur - Gesellschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 434

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

Considered to be sub-ordinated and sub-prime to the city, sub-urban areas receive little attention by researchers and designers. However, it´s the rapidly growing areas outside the central cities that pose the biggest questions of the urban millennium: How can the scattered patchwork of urban areas and social spaces linked by networks of highways and public transportation function as a sustainable and livable urban environment? Answering this question requires understanding suburban spaces as heterogeneous urban areas with distinct local characteristics, qualities, and problems. Following this path, Variations of Suburbanism explores formation, characteristics, and trends of suburban areas all over the world. It provides insights on common features and differences of suburban governance, design, and infrastructure and discusses strategies to understand and design suburban areas in an increasingly sub-urbanizing world.

Leseprobe

ibidem Press, Stuttgart

Table of Contents

Introduction: Variations of Suburbanism

Part I (Re-)developing Suburban Spaces

Mapping Urban Landscapes - Between understanding, interpreting and negotiating

Challenge of maturation - Life cycles and patterns of change in suburban settlement space

Designing suburban infrastructure: The A 40/ B1 Bochum

Airport (Sub)Urbia - Transforming Berlin Brandenburg’s periphery[1]

Part II Suburban Spaces - Global Variations

Unfinished suburbanization - Leipzig between Suburbia, Creative City and Shrinking

A Big Gamble for "Greater Paris"

Don’t trust the idyll. Meritorious objectives and arguable substance in Dutch suburbia

The dynamics of the Eastern European suburbs. Kazan, Kyiv and Bucharest

Suburban development in Argentina: a historical overview and the current trends. The case of Cordoba

Geographies of suburban transformation: the case of Amman, Jordan

Changing Face of Suburbia: A Narrative of Indian Cities

Authors

Introduction: Variations of Suburbanism

Barbara Schönig

Planners and urban designers aliketend todislike what is commonly referred to as"Suburbia"or"Post-Suburbia"and even more the spatial pattern that isthe result ofintensive suburbanization, known as sprawl(Bodenschatz/Schönig 2004:59). Appreciated instead is what is conceptually understood asthe material-spatialantithesis of sprawl, theideal"European city": compactness, density, mixed use, walkability - altogether: a model of sustainable urbanism. But flying overthe globeand looking out of the plane, we can easily recognize thatthis ideal form of the city can rarely be found, even in Europe. Thetraditional"European cities"that still roughlymatchthese criteria areusuallypart oflarge urban agglomerations.Thosedensely populated and built out areas integratesmaller cities, villages, and far stretchedmonofunctional parcelsof single family homes, service clusters, malls orindustrial sites,linked by networksof highways,transportationand technical infrastructures such as waterwaysandenergy lines.From birds eye view we can recognizeapatchworkof urbanstructures,industrializedagriculture, andnatural reserves.Beyond the borders of traditional cities,we see an urbanizedlandscape thatsome timeagoalreadyceasedto be"sub-urban", in the sense ofbeing"subordinated"toacore city in a functional or economic way.

This, in a truly literal sense of the word,"post-sub-urban"landscape, this"In-Between-City"(Sieverts 1997), may not be well liked by planners and urban designers. But we need to admit that it is simply thereand will be of a growing importance in the decades to comein terms of population and economic activity located there, but also with regard to challenges for urban society and urban development (seeKeil 2014; Phelps 2010; Modarres/Kirby 2010). This holds true not only for urban areas inEurope or Northern America, but alsofor those in other parts of the world.Urbanization in the global south to a large part takes place not within cities but at their fringe (McGee 2013:20) where large housing developments, informal housing settlements, economic and service clusters, government or university campuses, entertainment and shopping districts are stretching out into the hinterland of city centers.Noone thinking about the sheer numbers of people moving to urban areas and the scarcity and cost of land in central cities could be surprised that the growth of cities actually takes place as an extension of urban areas into city surroundings where land is still available and mostlyalsocheaper than in inner areas of cities.It isbeyond city limits,insuburbanizedareaswhere"a majority of Americans, many Europeans, and a growing number of Asians, Afrians, and Latin Americans live"(Kirby 2010: 66). Therefore,thestart of the"urban millenium"that was pronounced by the UN in 2007 when the majority of people on the globe lived in cities for the first time (UNFPA 2007: 1), actually could be understood as the start of a"sub-urban millennium".

However,"sub-urban"could hardly be understoodinthe sense ofits originalmeaningthatderived from the model of the North American (and also European) city (McGee 2013:20)."Suburban"inthe originalsense points to a dichotomy of center and periphery, indicating differences concerning the area’s role and function within the metropolitan region, its building and population density, its land uses, its socio-economic structure and also the way of life dominating there.Even at a first glanceat themorphological, social and functional diversity as well as theheterogeneity of theemerging respectively already existing urbanizedareasbeyond city bordershints to the fact that thisdichotomymight not be claimed.Instead, it seems convincing to follow the hypothesis that talking about"suburbanization"here indicates nothing more than an"increase in non-central city population and economic activity, as well as urban spatial expansion"(Keil 2013:9).

Studying suburbanization and suburban areas in that sense in different parts of the world as done in this book not only reveals that there are major differences to be found with regard to urban morphologies, socio-spatial structures, infrastructure and governance. It also shows that suburban areaswillface major challengesin their futureurban development.However, the challenges to be confronted in the context of suburbanizationarejust as manifold as suburban areas themselves, even within same national contexts. Looking at Europe or the United States, e.g.,thesechallengesrange fromtherenewaland adaption of existing areas to demographic shrinkage, aging or poverty in shrinking areas to the securing of green spaces or agricultural land, the provision of low cost housing within suburban spaces or the development of more sustainable urban structures and metropolitan planning in areas facing urbangrowth (Modarres/Kirby 201: 114; Schönig 2014: 105-110; Münter 2015: 21-22).Urban research until now has little knowledge and answers to the questions that lie at hand here:How can monofunctional single family home areas be adapted to the needs of an aging population? How can the decline of suburban neighborhoods be avoided when building structures lie idle due to economic restructuring or the loss of population. How can auto-oriented urban structures be transformed into more sustainable urban patterns? Postsuburbiain the developped countriesis in need of a new kind of"urban regeneration", the regenerationand adaptionof suburban structures. But confronting governmental fragmentation, social polarization and the strength of market forcespredominantin suburban development, it won’t be easy to implement strategies of sustainable urban regeneration and regional development on a metropolitan scale.

Despite the divergences of production, form, sociospatial structures and governance of suburban spaces all over the world it is obvious that any urbanist or urban researcher needs to have in mind that the main challenge of the"urban millennium"will be to understand, design and develop what is usually not at the forefront of our attention: the urbanized areas beyond city cores and city boundaries.This however will necessitateconceivingsuburban spacesasresearchtopicsof"their own right" (Kirby 2010:65)that can not be defined solely by being different to the city. Instead it implies to approach suburbanized areas as complex urban spaces that are connected to but not completely and inherently dependent on the adjoining core cities (1), that are"place[s] of mixed, economic activity, mixed densitities, mixed housing tenure and, by no means least, mixed demographics"(Modarres/Kirby 2010: 120) (2) and can show distinct and different local and regional characteristics and logics (3). Understanding suburban areas in that sense as being complex and heterogeneous urban spaces shaped by local and regional contexts can be understood as a prerequisite to develop adequate design and planning strategies for these parts of urban agglomerations. It will also enable us to disclose suburban areas from a perspective of international comparative urban research.

Asshown up to here, thinking about suburban landscapes and suburbanization in Europe and on a global scale raises many questions to urban planning and urban studies. Thisbookgives an insight intothe complexity of suburbanization processes, their dependence on specific parameters of urban development in different settings and also the heterogeneity and diversity of suburban landscapes all over the globe.Rather than answering allquestions,it compilesdifferent disciplinaryperspectiveson postsuburban areas in different parts of the world thereby adding to the discourseonand knowledge about postsuburban spaces as an area of urban studies of its own right.It documentsparts of alecture series andaresearchseminarat Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, Germany, in whichpostsuburbanizationas a global phenomenonwasdisussed fromdifferentdisciplinary perspectives.It integrated theoretical papers on specific aspects, such as terminology, sociological aspects, building morphology or infrastructure in postsuburbia, as well as case studies on different metropolitan areas in Europeand beyond.

This book is divided into two parts: The first part contains articles that show different approaches to understand, redevelop and design suburban areas applied to or examined by looking at suburban sites in Germany.Sigrun Langneras a landscape architect focusses on the question how the complexity of fragmented metropolitan landscapes that poses a major obstacle to receive attention and (public or political) support for metropolitan planning and design can be addressed by strategies of mapping. The urban plannerJan Polívkadiscusses whether and to what extent the model of urban life cycles can be used to explain the development and maturation of suburban settlements and what challenges suburbs face when approaching the state of maturation. Stefanie Bremer and Johanna Schlaack, both from the perspective of an architect, address different aspects of the role infrastructural development and design plays within suburban areas.Stefanie Bremersuggests to understand suburban highways, the roads taken by thousands of commuters day by day as a part of the city that is worth receiving the attention of urban designers. She explains her concept by presenting a Masterplan for the A40, the main highway passing through the metropolitan Ruhr area in Germany.Johanna Schlaackon the other hand discusses the way in which airport cities and major airports must be understood as important nodes of metropolitan areas, as places that need to becarefullydesigned in the context of their immediate surrounding and metropolitan area and that need to be thoughtfully planned using participative strategies that integrate not only key players but also the general public.

The second part of the book includes a number of case studies: According to the issues of the respective case studies presented, the authors focus on different aspects of postsuburban developments in the metropolitan areas discussed. Compiled are articles on Western European cases, namely Leipzig (Germany), Paris (France) and the"Randstad"(Netherlands) (Arvid Krüger, Elodie Vittu and Holger Gladys), Eastern Europe, namely Kazan (Russia), Bukarest (Romania) and Kiev (Ukraine) (Iana Samakaeva, Ion Alexander Retegu, and Iana Korolova). These articles are followed by perspectives on suburbanization in the Arabic world (Amman in Jordan byMazen Alazazmeh), in South Asia (Bangalore and Kolkata in India, written byVaishali Satyamurthi and Pryiambada Das) and in the Latin American context (Córdoba in Argentina, written byCarlos Grezzi, Monica Rame, Cristian Terreno and Regina Vidosa). These cases impressively show that indeed"Variations of Suburbanism"are to be found globally. But they also point to the fact that metropolitan areas despite of different characteristics, governance structures and drivers of suburbanization face similar problems when confronted with rapid and extensive suburbanization: weak planning, social fragmentation, low quality of urban and architectural design as well as a lack of infrastructure in suburban spaces, and ecological damages.

While it might be false to claim these problems in any context as being caused by a specifically suburban development in the notion of"suburbia"as something"different"or"other"to development within the city, it nevertheless seems to be necessary to consciously turn the attention of urban researchers and planners towards the suburban areas. This book is an attempt to move forward in that sense.

I would like to thankallauthors who contributed to this book,Britta Weisser, Frederike Rode, and Matti Drechsel who assisted with the editingand layout.Also, I would like to thankthe Zentrum für Universitätsentwicklung at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimarwhichsupported the lecture series and the seminar through a"Lehrfond"-grant, financed through money from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research ("Professional.Bauhaus"and"Studium.Bauhaus").

References

Bodenschatz, Harald/ Schönig, Barbara (2004),Smart Growth - New Urbanism - Liveable Communities. Programm und Praxis der Anti-Sprawl-Bewegung in den USA,Wuppertal:Müller + Busmann.

Keil, Robert (2013), “Welcome to the suburban revolution”, in: Keil, Robert (ed.): Suburban Constellations, Berlin: Jovis Verlag, 8-17.

Kirby, Andrew/ Modarres, Ali (2010), “The suburban question. An Introduction”, Cities, 27(1), 65-67.

McGee, Terry (2013), “Suburbanization in the Twenty-First-Century World”, in: Keil, Robert (ed.): Suburban Constellations, Berlin: Jovis Verlag, 18-25.

Modarres, Ali/ Kirby, Andrew (2010), “The suburban question. Notes for a research program”, Cities, 27(1), 114-121.

Münter, Angelika (2014), „Suburbia im demographischen Wandel“, in:Roost,Frank et al. (eds.): Jahrbuch StadtRegion 2013/14, Schwerpunkt Urbane Peripherie,Berlin, Toronto: Opladen, 19-42.

Phelps, Nicholas A. (2010), “Suburbs for Nations?Some interdisciplinary connections on the suburban economy”, Cities, 27(1), 68-76.

Schönig, Barbara (2014), „Umbauen, reparieren, umdenken - Suburban Retrofitting in der Krise“,in:Roost,Frank et al. (eds.): Jahrbuch StadtRegion 2013/14, Schwerpunkt Urbane Peripherie,Berlin, Toronto: Opladen, 96-114.

Sieverts, Thomas(1997),Zwischenstadt, zwischen Ort und Welt, Raum und Zeit, Stadt und Land,Braunschweig, Wiesbaden: Vieweg.

United Nations Population Fund (2007), State of World Population 2007. Unleashing the Potential of Urban Growth. New York.

Part I (Re-)developing Suburban Spaces

Mapping Urban Landscapes - Between understanding,interpreting and negotiating

Sigrun Langner

Introduction

In the context of global urbanization in the era of late capitalism, an urbanized landscape is emerging whosedynamics and origins we needto understand morecomprehensively. Urban landscapes are shaped by the complex interplay of socio-economic and ecological processes that we need to become more familiar with,if we are to influence themproductivelyortoenhance the quality of urban landscapes. The complexity of today’s urban landscapes requires instruments that canhelpustoread and reveal the processes that shape the landscape, and the spatial impacts theseprocesseshave.

The increasing availability of atlases and other cartographic representations of the diverseinterrelationships in urban landscapes seem to suggest that maps are eminently suitable for this purpose. Various designers have described the use of mapping as an active practice of the creative interpretation and reinterpretation of an existing situation (Corner/MacLean 1996; Corner 1999; Berger 2002; Beelen 2010). This practice has arisen in the context of a growing general awareness of the need to address urban development issues at a regional scale. The use of cartography as a creative practice of producing ideas and knowledge, especially for large-scale planning purposes, has gained increasingattraction withinplanning and design disciplines in recent years.[1]

Taking a large-scale landscape and design-oriented perspective oncurrent urbanization processes, this article examines the potential of design-oriented cartography as a practice of generating knowledge and ideas for the design of large-scale landscapes in the context of the pressures of global urbanization processes.

Using examples from selected design projects, thisarticle discusses mapping as a practice of understanding, interpreting and negotiating of urban landscapes.

1. A large-scale landscape perspective onurbanization processes

Many of the pressing issues concerning the future of urban space, such as the effects of climate change, of demographic change in shrinking regions, or issues such as the quality of daily life in large spatial agglomerations, can only be studied seriously within large-scaleregional contexts (Meijsmann 2010: 5).

The consideration of complexsocio-economic and ecological interrelationships goes beyond our perception of urban space in the usual spatial categories of city and country.This relational notion of urban space allows us to think of it as a continuous "urban fabric"that extends across the land -sometimeswovenmore densely and sometimes more loosely (Lefèbvre 1970).

Taking a lookaround,it can be seenthat a new urban reality is emerging: town and city centers, estates of detached houses, farmland, industrial and commercial areas, urban open spaces and nature preservation areas are all becoming interwoven into a single urban region. Various spatial constructs have been proposed to describe this phenomenon, such as "Zwischenstadt" (Sieverts 1997), "Netzstadt" / "Urban System" (Baccini/Oswald 1998) or "urban landscapes"(Seggern 2010). All of theseconceptsmerelygo beyonddescribing visually perceptible spatial attributes: The complex system of socio-economic and ecological factors that shapes modern environments results in a web of relationships that does not stop at a designated spatial boundary. Urban space is increasingly being used, and perceived, on a day-to-day basis at a broader, regional scale. This