Today I finished the book ‘Rewriting Exurbia: New people in aging sprawl’ by Lawrence Davis (ListLab Publisher). I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in and/or working with the challenges and opportunities of suburbs and exurbs transforming to more engaged, diverse (in many ways), and socially connected realms.
One of many standout quote insights: “The ability to transform the DNA of the poly-centric city at the micro-scale also suggests an ecologically sustainable form of renewing exurbia.” -Lawrence C. Davis, ‘Rewriting Exurbia’
The book excites me in terms of future research, bringing my walkability as well as proximity planning (5/10/15/20 minute neighborhoods) interests to the sub- and exurban dimension, where it is most definitely needed and also manifests in some examples of ‘ethnoburbs’ in the book whose transformed urban fabric focuses more on mixed function and social connectivity than prior incarnations of such suburban space had.
Having grown up in the suburbs of San Diego County, I was also a bit nostalgic about some of the regional references from there and was so thoughtful about what a great contemporary need there is for this kind of discourse on as well as actual transformation in sub- and exurbs.
As written on the Listlab Publisher site about the book:
“Leading the way for similar happenings worldwide, North America’s suburbs are changing. They have become ethnically and racially diverse. As a result, these now-multicultural outskirts reflect the character of our socially varied world. This is threatening to some. In the long term, however, this social transformation and the potential spatial change accompanying it can provide essential elements to address suburbia’s infamous isolation and monoculture. In light of this, this publication attempts to understand the significance of the future suburb, not only as a place for a diverse neighborhood culture but also, at a larger scale, as a new form of decentralized city.” -ListLab Publishers