Suburbs

'Ideas from Australian cities: relocating urban and suburban history'

by Andrew J. May

Australian Economic History Review 49, 1 (2009): 70-84.

This article draws on preliminary research into the social history of Melbourne, on the ways that suburban life in the... more This article draws on preliminary research into the social history of Melbourne, on the ways that suburban life in the post-World War II era provides both explanation and counterweight to persistently negative stereotypes of suburbia. Over recent decades, suburban histories have been eschewed in favour of historical reconsiderations of the inner city or the bush. The history of the Australian suburb, particularly since 1945, is yet to be written. Oral history and municipal archives will be crucial to the writing of such histories. The article suggests several research pathways, including intergenerational life stories, a wider scale of geographical analysis, and a subtler reading of cultural conformity and social differentiation.

Lo sfruttamento agricolo e le costruzioni sul pianoro di Centocelle in età repubblicana

by Rita Volpe

R. Volpe, "Lo sfruttamento agricolo e le costruzioni sul pianoro di Centocelle in età repubblicana" in  P. Gioia, R. Volpe (a cura di), Centocelle I. Roma S. D. O. Le indagini archeologiche, Roma 2004, pp. 447-461

CENTOCELLE I. La problematica storica alla luce delle fonti e dei documenti d'archivio

by Rita Volpe

R. Volpe, "La problematica storica alla luce delle fonti e dei documenti d'archivio", in P. Gioia, R. Volpe (a cura di), Centocelle I. Roma S. D. O. Le indagini archeologiche Roma 2004, pp. 153-161

Sulla base delle fonti letterarie si esamina il problema della confusione tra il toponimo "inter duas... more Sulla base delle fonti letterarie si esamina il problema della confusione tra il toponimo "inter duas lauros" e quello "ad duas lauros", e quindi l'errata ricostruzione storica di un enorme latifondo imperiale

L'utilizzazione del pianoro di Centocelle in età imperiale

by Rita Volpe

R. Volpe, "L'utilizzazione del pianoro di Centocelle in età imperiale", in R. Volpe (a cura di), Centocelle II. Roma  SDO. Le indagini archeologiche,  Soveria Mannelli 2007, pp.389-413.

TORRE SPACCATA. Occupazione e utilizzazione del territorio in età romana"

by Rita Volpe

R. Volpe, "Occupazione e utilizzazione del territorio in età romana", in P. Gioia (a cura di), Torre Spaccata, Soveria Mannelli 2008, pp. 259-272

"Suburbia as Culture: Exploring the U.S. Built Environment Through Art and Identity,” review of Worlds Away: New Suburban Landscapes, ed. by Andrew Blauvelt

by Matthew Lasner

caa.reviews: May 18, 2012

Archaeological investigations in the Torre Spaccata valley - 2010

by Rita Volpe

P. Gioia, A. Arnoldus-Huyzendveld, A. Celant, C. Rosa, R. Volpe 2010. Archaeological investigations in the Torre Spaccata valley (Rome): human interaction with the recent activity of the Albano Maar. In Funiciello R. & Giordano G. (eds) The Colli Albani Volcano, Special Publications of IAVCEI, 3, Geological Society, London:355-382.

2010 - Archaeological investigations in the Torre Spaccata valley


Riassunto: La valle di Torre... more 2010 - Archaeological investigations in the Torre Spaccata valley


Riassunto: La valle di Torre Spaccata, situata nella periferia sud-est di Roma, è stata oggetto di indagini geoarcheologiche nel 1997-98 e nel 2006. Essa si trova a circa 15 km dal complesso vulcanico Albano, la cui evoluzione recente comprende la deposizione della sequenza vulcanico-sedimentaria della Formazione Tavolato, che include i depositi del lahar Albano. Durante gli scavi è stato scoperto un limitato affioramento di lahar, datato archeologicamente al IV secolo aC. ed inoltre diversi canali fluviali incrociati, caratterizzati da un riempimento di sabbia e ciottoli, che sono la prova di un regime idrologico intermittente. In questa zona è testimoniata una interazione prolungata nel tempo tra le attività umane ed i diversi ambienti della valle. I ritrovamenti preistorici (III-II millennio a.C.) trovano un confronto nella notevole concentrazione, nella stessa posizione fisiografica, di siti coevi nella periferia Est di Roma. Altre tracce archeologiche rilevanti, che testimoniano la frequentazione dell’area valliva, possono essere riferite al IV-III secolo a.C., subito dopo la deposizione lahar locale. Durante l’età tardo-repubblicana ed imperiale è la le sommità dei rilievi ad essere occupata da una fitta rete di villae. Mentre una nuova frequentazione del fondovalle per uso agricolo è attestata nel Medioevo.
L'interpretazione dei dati geoarcheologici provenienti dall’area di Torre Spaccata costituiscono un importante contributo alla comprensione dei rapporti nel tempo tra il vulcano Albano e le attività umane in questo territorio.

Abstract: The Torre Spaccata valley, situated in the southeastern suburbs of Rome, was investigated between 1997 and 1998 and again in 2006. It lies about 15 km from the Colli Albani volcanic complex, the recent evolution of which incorporates deposition of the volcanic-sedimentary sequence of the Tavolato Formation (including the Albano lahar deposits). During the excavations,
a limited strip of lahar was uncovered and dated archaeologically to the fourth century BCE. Other main features include several intercrossing channels with a sandy-pebbly fill, evidence of intermittent hydrological activity. In this area there is evidence of a prolonged interaction through time between human activity and the valley’s varying environments. The prehistoric evidence (third
to second millennium BCE) is well documented in a concentration of sites on the eastern outskirts of Rome. The prehistoric evidence (third to second millennium BCE) has a good context in the concentration of sites in the eastern outskirts of Rome. Other reliable traces date to the fourth to third
century BCE, soon after local lahar deposition. During the Late Republican and Imperial period, the hilltops were occupied by a dense system of villae. Later remains provide evidence for agricultural use of the valley floor during the Middle Ages.

Il suburbio

by Rita Volpe

R. Volpe, "Il Suburbio", in A. Giardina (a cura di), Roma antica, Bari-Roma 2000, pp. 183-210

Si cerca di dare una definizione del suburbio di Roma nel tempo e nello spazio, ricostruendo le principali fasi di... more Si cerca di dare una definizione del suburbio di Roma nel tempo e nello spazio, ricostruendo le principali fasi di sfruttamento del territorio suburbano.

Il suburbio

by Rita Volpe

R. Volpe, "Il Suburbio", in A. Giardina (a cura di), Roma antica, Bari-Roma 2000, pp. 183-210

Si cerca di dare una definizione del suburbio di Roma nel tempo e nello spazio, ricostruendo le principali fasi di... more Si cerca di dare una definizione del suburbio di Roma nel tempo e nello spazio, ricostruendo le principali fasi di sfruttamento del territorio suburbano.

Love the Beast

by Kirsten Stevens

In "Making film and television histories : Australia and New Zealand" Eds James Bennett and Rebecca Beirne. London: I.B. Tauris, 2011.

Partial preview available via Google Books

Delimiting Beirut's suburbs. Perimeters and names

by eric verdeil

In French. Délimiter les banlieues de Beyrouth. Des noms et des périmètres
Paper at the conference : Des banlieues à la ville: acteurs et espaces de la négociation urbaine (30 oct.-1st nov. 2011, Beirut)

The paper analyses some divisions and delimitations of Beirut's suburbs, as well as their denominations. The purpose... more The paper analyses some divisions and delimitations of Beirut's suburbs, as well as their denominations. The purpose is to unravil the cognitive and political stakes of these mapping and naming operations. Works of geographers and planners are specifically studied. The will to subsume the suburbs under the nome of an encompassing metropolis is a common feature of urban planning history. In the Lebanese case, it can be linked with the long due conflict betwwen the central State, main holder of planning duties, and various local actors and powers, among them the municipalities. The paper highlights what can be described as a turn at the begining of the 2000's : a growing disinterest in the administrative sphere for the idea of a Greater Beirut and the rise of new kind of administrative divisions that are the sign of new forms of collective action.

'Territorial Stigma and the Politics of Resistance in a Parisian Banlieue: La Courneuve and Beyond' (published in Urban Studies)

by David GARBIN

(2011) In Urban Studies. Co-authored with Gareth Millington

full paper on request (d.garbin@surrey.ac.uk)

Drawing on research carried out in the Parisian banlieue of La Courneuve, this article contributes to the sociological... more Drawing on research carried out in the Parisian banlieue of La Courneuve, this article contributes to the sociological analysis of urban marginalisation in post-riot France. Beginning with a discussion of the broad relationship between society and space, drawing on Pierre Bourdieu’s relational understanding of social space and how these complexities are inscribed in the urban, it moves on to consider how this relates to Lefebvre’s production of space thesis. The main body of the article outlines some of the ways in which territorial stigmatisation is imposed and reproduced. Empirical material is treated here as ‘diagnostic’ of the symbolic domination that blights La Courneuve.
Yet this material is also illuminative of the irregular and scattered forms that resistance to territorial stigma takes. It is suggested that the complex relationship between social and physical space is expressed through the construction of symbolic geographies of domination/resistance and negotiated through intricate ‘entanglements of power’.


full paper on request (d.garbin@surrey.ac.uk)

'Living in a "Half-Baked Pageant": The Tudorbethan Semi and Suburban Modernity in Britain, 1918-39'

by Deborah Sugg Ryan

Home Cultures, Volume 8, Number 3, November 2011 , pp. 217-244

This article investigates the ways in which new suburban identities were forged through the architecture, design, and... more This article investigates the ways in which new suburban identities were forged through the architecture, design, and decoration of the modest mock-Tudor semi-detached house in the interwar years in England. It focuses particularly on the tensions between the longings for the past and aspirations for the future displayed in the architecture and interiors of “Tudorbethan“ houses. It argues that such houses embodied a specifically suburban modernity, which looked backwards to the past whilst looking forward to the future. Although contemporary critics dismissed it as ersatz and backward-looking, the Tudorbethan semi signified a coming together of nostalgia and a particularly suburban form of modernity. Speculative builders created Tudorbethan houses with modern methods of construction that combined half-oak timbering with concrete. Furthermore, whilst some of the furniture that filled the Tudorbethan semi may have been nostalgically Jacobethan in its styling, it was modern in its purpose, with metamorphic designs that made the most of small spaces. This article challenges the dominance of Modernist aesthetics and values on writing on design, architecture, and consumption by exploring popular conceptions of the “modern“ that accommodated past and present, nostalgia and modernity.

The shape of belonging in the outer London suburbs: beyond a discourse of alienation

by Laura Vaughan

Co-authored with Mordechai (Muki) Haklay, Sam Griffiths, Catherine Emma Jones. Paper given at PLiC - PUBLIC LIFE in the IN-BETWEEN-CITY International Conference, Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, Technion, Technion, Israeli Institute of Technology. Not for citation without first author's permission.

Suburbs are commonly perceived as essentially non-urban and as non-places without a spatial logic of their own. Such... more Suburbs are commonly perceived as essentially non-urban and as non-places without a spatial logic of their own. Such theories ignore the centrality of suburbs to everyday life. This paper presents evidence to show that suburbs have an independent public life that is real, measurable and diverse. A combination of quantitative analysis using space syntax and geographical analysis and qualitative analysis using questionnaires, ethnographic observations and video footage shows that London’s outer suburbs are places of flows at different scales, supporting activities of differing spatial qualities and demands. This diversity of activities and people explains how suburbs can adapt to change and become part of the urban fabric through time.

Miljonprogram och media: föreställningar om människor och förorter

by Urban Ericsson

Broadband in the Burbs: NBN Infrastructure, Spectrum Politics and the Digital Home

by Thomas Apperley

with Bjorn Nansen, Michael Arnold, & Rowan Wilken

The production of nature in planning for urban expansion: A cultural landscape study of new urban growth in Oakville, Ontario. Dissertation, University of Toronto

by Laura Taylor

Thesis, 2007, University of Toronto Department of Geography

The city’s edge is a cultural landscape of conflicting and competing meanings. The visible, physical edge of rapidly... more The city’s edge is a cultural landscape of conflicting and competing meanings. The visible, physical edge of rapidly urbanizing cities is emotionally charged, representing prosperity to some, and sprawl and environmental destruction to others. My dissertation is a cultural landscape study of city expansion at the edge of the Toronto-centred region, where urban growth pressures are as intense as anywhere in North America or Europe. My research reveals that ideas about the countryside are produced against the city, and these ideas are discussed in terms of ecology and natural heritage. This is a study of the cultural politics of landscape meaning in a contemporary planning process where local area planning comes face-to-face with the global environmental imagination.

In the Town of Oakville, a wealthy suburb in the Toronto metropolitan area, a planning process to urbanize the last remaining countryside of the town has been underway for the past two decades. In the end, the decision to urbanize has been in lock-step with the decision to conserve: through the creation of a large natural heritage system (almost 900 hectares or more than 2,000 acres), fully one-third of the planning area, development of the remainder of the lands can take place. While pastoral ideas of the romantic countryside underlie the valuation of this landscape, representations of ecological sensitivity by environmental science were politically the most successful. Local area politics have undergone a revolution resulting from the negotiation over the future of this countryside. Using discourse analysis (text analysis of public planning process documents and popular media), participant observation of public meetings, and interviews with informants, my research reveals that cultural attitudes toward growth and conservation are informed by symbolic landscapes of country and city and these are implicated in the production of real landscapes and places. As planning practitioners and academics involved in the political process of shaping landscape change at the city’s edge, it is difficult to represent those opinions of the public and other participants in the planning process that are not supported by scientific, empirical study. The lens of cultural landscape provides tools to understand and recognize cultural value, meaning and symbolism in edge landscapes and to engage with them in areas which are being planned for change.

Do the suburbs exist? Discovering complexity and specificity in suburban built form

by Laura Vaughan

Co-authored with S. Griffiths, M. Haklay and C. Jones. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 34 (4):475-488

In human geography cities are routinely acknowledged as complex and dynamic built environments. This description is... more In human geography cities are routinely acknowledged as complex and dynamic built environments. This description is rarely extended to the suburbs, which are generally regarded as epiphenomena of the urbs and therefore of little intrinsic theoretical interest in themselves. This article presents a detailed critique of this widely held assumption by showing how the idea of 'the suburban' as an essentially non-problematic domain has been perpetuated from a range of contrasting disciplinary perspectives, including those which directly address suburban subject matter. The result has been that attempts to articulate the complex social possibilities of suburban space are easily caught between theories of urbanisation that are insensitive to suburban specificity and competing representations of the suburb that rarely move beyond the culturally specific to consider their generic significance. This article proposes that the development of a distinctively suburban theory would help to undermine one-dimensional approaches to the built environment, by focusing on the relationship between social organisation and the dynamics of emergent built form.