This book examines and documents the remarkable development and transformation of suburban form throughout the globe during the twentieth century. The premise that suburban areas are monotonous, inert environments is put to a test through investigation of the complexity of those suburban settings and the dynamic physical changes that have taken place since their inception. Suburban Form: An International Perspective investigates select case studies of suburban environments from around the globe, demonstrating that the process of suburbanization is an international phenomenon with interesting continuities despite cultural differences. The case studies span from the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, through new town developments in Singapore, to the high-tech regions of the Silicon Valley and they Tokaido Corridor. The authors analyse the impact of certain elements of urban form on the processes of formation and transformation of the built environment. The impact that urban planning concepts and principles, as well as governmental policies and regulations, have had and continue to exert on shaping the twentieth-century suburbs is also examined.
The analysis of suburban form is used to enhance our understanding of the wide variety of current patterns of urban growth, the logic of their physical evolution, the set of opportunities and constraints characterising each type of suburban environment; and the choices that we have in shaping the future of our cities. Marina Botta, Maria Gracia Corsini, Piper Gaubatz, Thomas Harvey, Limin Hee, Paola Jacques, Daniel Lacroix, Peter Larkham, Nik Luka, Brenda Case Scheer, Kiril Stanilov, Jacqueline Tatom, Genevieve Vac