Suburb
A suburb is an area on the edge of a large town or city, typically residential in character. The term ‘suburbs’ is thought to derive from the Latin ‘suburbium’ in which ‘sub’ means ‘under’ and ‘urbs’ means ‘city’. Suburban areas might also be referred to as peri-urban.
Suburbs became common in the UK during the 19th and 20th centuries when the development of rail and road transport made commuting viable. This allowed urban areas to expand, often absorbing perimeter towns and villages.
In the mid-20th century, terraced housing was abandoned and planned garden cities fell out of favour. Instead, growth was delivered by the expansion of unplanned suburbs, large-scale clearance of the inner cities and the construction of new mass housing estates. This re-ordering of settlements separated work from home, breaking the close integration of commerce, manufacturing, leisure and home life.
Despite this, suburbs became attractive to the middle classes, some of whom wanted to move away from crowded, noisy urban centres to safer, quieter ‘leafy suburbs’ where there was more space for them and their family, better schools, the possibility of having a garden, and so on.
However, suburbs continue to be criticised for being bland, sprawling and ill-defined, with insufficient density to support the social or commercial infrastructure necessary to create an effective community or urban hub.
The relentless spread of cities has been constrained to a certain extent by the creation of ‘green belts’ established in the Town and Country Planning Act in 1947 to create a buffer zone between urban and rural land, separating town and country and preserving land for forestry, agriculture and wildlife.
In recent years, this, combined with increasing migration to cities and rising population has led to the renewed ‘densification’ of city centres, which have slowly regained their popularity. Advocates of densification argue that the denser a city, the more sustainable it is, as dense cities use less energy per person than suburban or rural areas where people are spread over a wider distance and so travel more often and further.
Densification has now also been advocated for the suburbs. The word ‘huburb’ refers to a former suburb that has developed into a hub in its own right, that is, it provides a transport hub for trains, buses or trams, a cultural hub with cinemas, galleries or theatres, it is a shopping hub, and so on.
Architect Richard Rogers has argued that we need a plan of action that works from the centre outwards, layer by layer, developing existing communities and clusters of activity into a denser, closer texture.
NB Spatial development glossary, European Conference of Ministers responsible for Spatial/Regional Planning (CEMAT), Territory and landscape, No 2, published by Council of Europe Publishing in 2007, defines peri-urban areas as: ‘…areas that are in some form of transition from strictly rural to urban. These areas often form the immediate urban-rural interface and may eventually evolve into being fully urban. Peri-urban areas are places where people are key components: they are lived-in environments.’
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings
- Brownfield land.
- City.
- Conurbation.
- Cul-de-sac.
- Densification.
- Gentrification.
- Eco town.
- Exurb.
- Garden cities.
- Garden town.
- Green belt.
- Hamlet.
- Levittown.
- Neighbourhood planning.
- Placemaking.
- Redefining density, making the best use of London’s land to build more and better homes.
- Rural.
- Suburbanisation.
- The compact sustainable city.
- Town.
- Types of place.
- Urban sprawl.
- Village.
Featured articles and news
Insights of how to attract more young people to construction
Results from CIOB survey of 16-24 year olds and parents.
Focussing on the practical implementation of electrification.
Sustainable Urban Drainage and Biodiversity
Awards for champions of these interconnected fields now open.
Microcosm of biodiversity in balconies and containers
Minor design adaptations for considerable biodiversity benefit.
CIOB student competitive construction challenge Ireland
Inspiring a new wave of Irish construction professionals.
Challenges of the net zero transition in Scotland
Skills shortage and ageing workforce hampering Scottish transition to net zero.
Private rental sector, living standards and fuel poverty
Report from the NRH in partnership with Impact on Urban Health.
.Cold chain condensing units market update
Tracking the evolution of commercial refrigeration unit markets.
Attending a conservation training course, personal account
The benefits of further learning for professsionals.
Restoring Alexander Pope's grotto
The only surviving part of his villa in Twickenham.
International Women's Day 8 March, 2025
Accelerating Action for For ALL Women and Girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.
Lack of construction careers advice threatens housing targets
CIOB warning on Government plans to accelerate housebuilding and development.
Shelter from the storm in Ukraine
Ukraine’s architects paving the path to recovery.
BSRIA market intelligence division key appointment
Lisa Wiltshire to lead rapidly growing Market Intelligence division.
A blueprint for construction’s sustainability efforts
Practical steps to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Timber in Construction Roadmap
Ambitious plans from the Government to increase the use of timber in construction.
ECA digital series unveils road to net-zero.
Retrofit and Decarbonisation framework N9 launched
Aligned with LHCPG social value strategy and the Gold Standard.