Suburbanization

The creation of residential areas and, to some extent, industry at the edge of the city. The term suburb usually indicates an area of houses set apart, and in open spaces. Suburbanization in Britain began with the development of mass transport systems: railways, trams and trolley buses, motorbuses, and then mass car ownership, all of which made possible the separation of work and home. It is aided by decentralizing forces within the city: higher local taxes, pressure on space, natural increase, and congestion and pollution, together with relatively cheap land and higher amenity at the edge of the city, decentralization of industry, and the freedom of footloose industries from locational constraints.

Suburbanization (or suburbanisation) a term used to describe the growth of areas on the fringes of major cities. It is one of the many causes of the increase in urban sprawl. Many residents of metropolitan regions work within the central urban area, choosing instead to live in satellite communities called suburbs and commute to work via automobile or mass transit. Others have taken advantage of technological advances to work from their homes, and chose to do so in an environment they consider more pleasant than the city. These processes often occur in more economically developed countries, especially in the United States, which is believed to be the first country in which the majority of the population lives in the suburbs, rather than in the cities or in rural areas. Proponents of containing urban sprawl argue that sprawl leads to urban decay and a concentration of lower income residents in the inner city.

In America, the suburban shopping mall had replaced downtown as the major retail centre for many Americans by the 1980s; a 1981 survey showed that the 20 000 plus malls accounted for over 50% of US retail trade, and suburban growth in the USA reflects this decentralization. Certain suburbs have high-prestige zip codes; the prestige of an address in, for example, Princeton, Cambridge, Mass., and California's Silicon Valley has attracted many US corporations.