What is a Suburb?
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Date: 2020-04-23
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Comments and reviews: 10
Terri
The key to answering the question what is a suburb? is how a piece of land is used. Land that has only one use is suburban or rural; land with more than one use is urban. To figure this out, first ask 1) What type of shop is below your apartment? If a respondent cannot answer this question, he does not live on land that is city. Next, ask 2) What percentage of your food is produced on your land? If he responds any substantial amount, then the land is country. Finally, land that neither satisfies 1) nor 2) is suburban. Thus, in the US, almost all land people live on is suburban (or burned out, or both and rural is just a poor type of suburban, whereas, in say Italy, almost all such land is city. This process above really gets to the heart of how people live and how land is used. It allows for different classifications of land within municipal boundries (ie. the center of a block of row houses is suburban while aparmenthouses on the corners is city. Further, it allows for people who live in apartment blocks (if no shops below) to be considered suburban. Jane Jacobs discussed this in her 1959 prediction of why the South Bronx and Jamaica Plain would burn out. Jacobs considers my one use as lack of diversity of activity.
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The key to answering the question what is a suburb? is how a piece of land is used. Land that has only one use is suburban or rural; land with more than one use is urban. To figure this out, first ask 1) What type of shop is below your apartment? If a respondent cannot answer this question, he does not live on land that is city. Next, ask 2) What percentage of your food is produced on your land? If he responds any substantial amount, then the land is country. Finally, land that neither satisfies 1) nor 2) is suburban. Thus, in the US, almost all land people live on is suburban (or burned out, or both and rural is just a poor type of suburban, whereas, in say Italy, almost all such land is city. This process above really gets to the heart of how people live and how land is used. It allows for different classifications of land within municipal boundries (ie. the center of a block of row houses is suburban while aparmenthouses on the corners is city. Further, it allows for people who live in apartment blocks (if no shops below) to be considered suburban. Jane Jacobs discussed this in her 1959 prediction of why the South Bronx and Jamaica Plain would burn out. Jacobs considers my one use as lack of diversity of activity.
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Mangobonbon
In Germany there are only a few city districts that are built from scratch. It is more common that villages close to a bigger city start growing. They spread an start to connect to the main city. They are called Vorort and although they are mainly residential, they have a denser historic core an often develop local shops. Bakerys, barbers, supermarkets - they exist in a typical Vorort. Edge cities are not really a thing here, but there are examples of towns that grew into bigger cities but retained their influence for work and shopping. A good example is Berlin. Spandau was its own city with walls and medieval core but it was integrated into greater Berlin. To this day Spandau still is its own center with a distinct seperation. All roads around it lead to the core and business is still in great shape.
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In Germany there are only a few city districts that are built from scratch. It is more common that villages close to a bigger city start growing. They spread an start to connect to the main city. They are called Vorort and although they are mainly residential, they have a denser historic core an often develop local shops. Bakerys, barbers, supermarkets - they exist in a typical Vorort. Edge cities are not really a thing here, but there are examples of towns that grew into bigger cities but retained their influence for work and shopping. A good example is Berlin. Spandau was its own city with walls and medieval core but it was integrated into greater Berlin. To this day Spandau still is its own center with a distinct seperation. All roads around it lead to the core and business is still in great shape.
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Nick
I currently live in Downtown Indianapolis (urban) but at one time lived in Bethesda, MD. Anyone who is familiar with Bethesda knows that it is an urban area, but when I would describe it to friends/family back home in Indy, who hadn't heard of it, they were confused when I would describe it. Basically, I would say its a suburb of Washington, DC in Maryland. But its not a regular suburb like the ones found around Indianapolis. I lived in a high-rise apartment building, walked pretty much everywhere, and took transit, all things that would typically be associated with a city. I think a lot of people in the country aren't aware of Washington's suburbs being basically secondary cities that don't so much compete with Washington, but compliment it.
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I currently live in Downtown Indianapolis (urban) but at one time lived in Bethesda, MD. Anyone who is familiar with Bethesda knows that it is an urban area, but when I would describe it to friends/family back home in Indy, who hadn't heard of it, they were confused when I would describe it. Basically, I would say its a suburb of Washington, DC in Maryland. But its not a regular suburb like the ones found around Indianapolis. I lived in a high-rise apartment building, walked pretty much everywhere, and took transit, all things that would typically be associated with a city. I think a lot of people in the country aren't aware of Washington's suburbs being basically secondary cities that don't so much compete with Washington, but compliment it.
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caddlemen
Love your videos. I think there is a distinction between what makes a municipality a suburb or a suburban area. I live in Orlando Florida, where the center of the city and a few surrounding areas feel like a city, but the rest of the city limits are low density and feel like a suburb, despite being in the city limits. Of course, there are communities like winter park that are urban but are technically suburbs of orlando. It is rather complicated.
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Love your videos. I think there is a distinction between what makes a municipality a suburb or a suburban area. I live in Orlando Florida, where the center of the city and a few surrounding areas feel like a city, but the rest of the city limits are low density and feel like a suburb, despite being in the city limits. Of course, there are communities like winter park that are urban but are technically suburbs of orlando. It is rather complicated.
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MVAL
Well this is such an American video. I live in Andheri, which is technically a suburb of Mumbai. However, it has a density of roughly 60 to 70 thousand people per square km, a robust bus network, and a train station comparable to Grand Central, plus an extensive metro system. It's also very walkable. So more of a city then most American cities.
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Well this is such an American video. I live in Andheri, which is technically a suburb of Mumbai. However, it has a density of roughly 60 to 70 thousand people per square km, a robust bus network, and a train station comparable to Grand Central, plus an extensive metro system. It's also very walkable. So more of a city then most American cities.
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Haseeb
I guess the easy definition would be suburbs normally contain people that mostly travel to a larger urban city for work/business. But I agree definition is definitely changing and is very difficult to answer especially with so many people working remote these days and a lot of corporate offices relocating away from central urban cores.
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I guess the easy definition would be suburbs normally contain people that mostly travel to a larger urban city for work/business. But I agree definition is definitely changing and is very difficult to answer especially with so many people working remote these days and a lot of corporate offices relocating away from central urban cores.
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Path
Great content as always. I've always wondered about the technical definitions for these things. I live near a city that only has a population of about 55, 000 but it has multiple high rises at 20+ stories and most of the single family homes are densely packed together. Not sure whether it's a city or a town or something else.
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Great content as always. I've always wondered about the technical definitions for these things. I live near a city that only has a population of about 55, 000 but it has multiple high rises at 20+ stories and most of the single family homes are densely packed together. Not sure whether it's a city or a town or something else.
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Guy
For the recent years in Israel, we have a boom of high-rise residential-only suburbs being built. I wonder which definition do those places apply to. Loved that spectrum system though: D
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For the recent years in Israel, we have a boom of high-rise residential-only suburbs being built. I wonder which definition do those places apply to. Loved that spectrum system though: D
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meme
it's so funny that here in brazil suburbs mean something completely different. they are usually lower income areas further from city centers often neglected by local governments
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it's so funny that here in brazil suburbs mean something completely different. they are usually lower income areas further from city centers often neglected by local governments
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Marcelo
Here in Brazil suburbs, or periphery, are just poor neighborhoods that are far away from things that matter. Sub-urban means literally under city or lower city.
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Here in Brazil suburbs, or periphery, are just poor neighborhoods that are far away from things that matter. Sub-urban means literally under city or lower city.
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