Inner-City Suburbanization – no Contradiction in Terms. Middle-Class Family Enclaves are Spreading in the Cities

Susanne Frank

doi:10.1007/s13147-016-0444-1

Authors

Susanne Frank Fakultät Raumplanung, Stadt- und Regionalsoziologie, Technische Universität Dortmund, August-Schmidt-Straße 10, 44227, Dortmund, Germany http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7801-0485

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1007/s13147-016-0444-1

Keywords:

(Sub)urbanism as a way of living, Inner-city suburbanization, Middle-class family enclaves, New housing developments, Urban transformation in Germany

Abstract

The rapid emergence and spread of new housing quarters that specifically address middle-class families is a striking feature of current urban development. Despite being located in or near the city centres, many of these ‘family enclaves’ display social and physical characteristics that so far have been firmly associated with suburban living. Against this background, the purpose of this article is twofold. The first objective is to argue from a theoretical perspective that the notion of ‘inner-city suburbanization’ is appropriate and helpful to capture the hybrid and contradictory nature of these projects as well as of many of the current socio-spatial developments in Western metropolitan regions. For this purpose, the paper draws on newer approaches that conceive of (urban or suburban) ways of living as independent of specific (urban or suburban) spaces or places. The second issue, based on empirical research, is then to sketch the essential qualities of newly built middle-class family enclaves and to highlight their propagation as a major characteristic of urban transformation in Germany. Their continuing expansion is interpreted as an expression and catalyst of ongoing processes of inner-city suburbanization. It is asserted that suburbanism has not only made its mark on the outskirts of the cities but is increasingly conquering growing parts of the inner cities as well.

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