Inner cities and suburbs

[Lone Wolf]

From what I can gather on the subject, in the USA the inner cities (downtowns) in general tend to be the poorer parts of cities, where less affluent citizens reside and which are characterized by lower standards of living and more crime, as opposed to the more rich suburbs.

My geography professor in the university states that the process of suburbanization is only going to continue in the future, and he states that as countries become more developed, the more suburbanization they experience.

Do you agree with that assertion, and have you got some arguments for/against it? Do you think that such a development is a good thing?

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

I thought suburbanization is exclusively a American phenomenon. How did he go about with that theory of other major cities in the world will somehow go naturally as what is happening in USA?

 

[Rossiya]

In MEDCs there are trends such as counterburbanisation and reurbanisation that go against this. Counterurbanisation where people move from towns to countryside, reurbanisation where people move back to the cities. GCSE Geography for you there.

 

[Truronian]

I think suburbia (American Beauty/Malcolm in the Middle/Weeds style detached houses) is an American phenomenon, but most large cities have suburbs.

@ Rossiya: MEDCs and LEDCs... that brings back memories.

 

[Gooblah]

I think it depends on the style of urban planning. I mean, some cities have seen success with transit-based planning or other methods, but others (such as Detroit) have seen complete failure.

 

[Earthling]

Suburbanization is going to slow to a halt very quickly as we run out of oil for transportation. And yes, the US is very ill-equipped for this and is not getting better.

 

[Desmond Hawkins]

From what I can gather on the subject, in the USA the inner cities (downtowns) in general tend to be the poorer parts of cities, where less affluent citizens reside and which are characterized by lower standards of living and more crime, as opposed to the more rich suburbs.

Indeed, but that is inverted in a lot of other places outside of the states.

My geography professor in the university states that the process of suburbanization is only going to continue in the future, and he states that as countries become more developed, the more suburbanization they experience.

Do you agree with that assertion, and have you got some arguments for/against it? Do you think that such a development is a good thing?

I think it is a weak theory. There is definitely a suburbanization force, but there is also an urbanization force, and it is certainly possible for people to realize more value from concentrating rather than dispersing. The vast majority of developed world cities have visions of densification for the future. How much comes to fruition is unclear, but the economics of excessive suburbanization simply don't make sense. Just because people did something en masse, doesn't mean it was efficient.

It is also hard to predict how technology will change things in the future. Breakthroughs in communication technology actually made face to face interaction more valuable, and to this day the most knowledge-intensive industries prefer to concentrate. This is completely counter-intuitive for most people.

I thought suburbanization is exclusively a American phenomenon. How did he go about with that theory of other major cities in the world will somehow go naturally as what is happening in USA?

It is most extreme in the U.S., but it is not exclusive by any measure. Canada and Australia experienced a lot, and both France and the UK experienced a lesser degree of it. There is a spectrum of suburbanization that goes kinda like:

USA - Canada/Australia - UK - Other European - Japan/Korea/Singapore/Hong Kong

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

Suburbanization is going to slow to a halt very quickly as we run out of oil for transportation. And yes, the US is very ill-equipped for this and is not getting better.

Curious to know how can you conclude that the future process of suburban development will slow down and then cease to exist on the result from lack of oil resource? Can suburbs have alternative means of transportation or still have automobiles that does not depend on consuming fossil fuel? I think so.

 

[GinandTonic]

I think suburbia (American Beauty/Malcolm in the Middle/Weeds style detached houses) is an American phenomenon, but most large cities have suburbs.

@ Rossiya: MEDCs and LEDCs... that brings back memories.

However in most UK cities the most expensive areas are on the edges of the centre of town.

 

[AL_DA_GREAT]

I will never understand people who live in suburbs. They are dead.

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

I will never understand people who live in suburbs. They are dead.

So they are what you say metaphorically - zombies?

 

[civ_king]

suburbia is unsustainable

 

[warpus]

There are some really nice/affluent parts of north american downtowns. I was just in Chicago and parts of their downtown are really nice.

 

[amadeus]

There are some really nice/affluent parts of north american downtowns. I was just in Chicago and parts of their downtown are really nice.

That's because "inner city" is really just a colorful euphemism for poor black people.

 

[Earthling]

Curious to know how can you conclude that the future process of suburban development will slow down and then cease to exist on the result from lack of oil resource? Can suburbs have alternative means of transportation or still have automobiles that does not depend on consuming fossil fuel? I think so.

It's certainly possible, but there's almost zero indication that the political climate or the public at large are taking steps in this direction though (lots of things, from renewable energy to mass transit to fewer imported crops), at least in the short term. Why, the US is still even experiencing pretty rapid population growth.

 

[Phlegmak]

FYI, definitions in the US:

Downtown: Business section of a city, typically. Nonresidential. In Manhattan, downtown is the southern edge of the city (the business section), and uptown is the more northerly rich people area (where I used to live ). Downtown Manhattan, downtown Stamford, downtown San Francisco, and downtown New Orleans are all business sections.

Uptown: Typically rich people residential area, with expensive businesses for rich people.

Inner city: No particular geographic area, but rather the place where the very poor live in a big city, usually blacks.

Suburb: Small buildings, spread out over a large area, where middle class people live.

 

[LucyDuke]

From what I can gather on the subject, in the USA the inner cities (downtowns) in general tend to be the poorer parts of cities, where less affluent citizens reside and which are characterized by lower standards of living and more crime, as opposed to the more rich suburbs.

There are poor parts of cities and rich parts of cities, just as there are poor suburbs and rich suburbs.

Suburbia will collapse. It's not if, it's when.

Suburbanization is going to slow to a halt very quickly as we run out of oil for transportation. And yes, the US is very ill-equipped for this and is not getting better.

True story.

The level of sprawl we saw in the US in the 1920s is probably the extent of what's sustainable in the long term.

Can suburbs have alternative means of transportation or still have automobiles that does not depend on consuming fossil fuel?

Streetcars can sustain the older suburbs, but the crap like you see in LA is absolutely doomed.

 

[Drewcifer]

In some larger cities in the US you are starting to see the gentrified areas of the inner city grow significantly with the poor being pushed into older inner ring blue collar suburbs. I think this is more common in the more prosperous metros.

 

[Thoughtful Thug]

Streetcars can sustain the older suburbs, but the crap like you see in LA is absolutely doomed.

Been to LA? Strange that there are millions of people who either still live there or flocking to it. I guess some people have a preference for crap.

 

[Drewcifer]

People are flocking to LA because it beats living in a shanty town in the developing world. That said LA is more dense than most people realize, it is one of the densest big cities in the country.