Urbanization and the Dynamics of Suburban Development Under Capitalism

Abstract

One of the most striking and significant social phenomena of the twentieth century has been the growth and proliferation of suburbs around large cities in the United States. From a limited and relatively rare social form at the beginning of this century, suburbs have developed into major growth poles for industrial and commercial investment and suburbanism has become a way of life for over ninety million Americans - by far a plurality of the population. The purpose of this chapter is to show how this historical development is rooted in the dynamics of the capitalist mode of production and to demonstrate how the specific evolution of suburbs both reflects and contributes to more general contradictions within the economic system.