Suburbanisation

Suburbanisation can be defined as the outward growth of urban development which may engulf surrounding villages and towns into a larger urban agglomeration. Indeed, the suburbs are the outlying areas of a city which are close enough to the city centre to be accessible by commuters. Essentially it is a part of urbanisation, in that it increases the proportion of people that live in towns and cities in comparison to those in rural areas. As suburbs grow they attract both people from rural areas AND people from Inner city and CBD areas, who are attracted by the greater amount of space within the suburb. Suburbanisation results in the physical spreading of a city into surrounding countryside areas, known as URBAN SPRAWL, and this puts pressure on greenfield sites and on nature. In Britain the suburbs are predominantly residential in nature and have often rural characteristics such as larger gardens and to tree-lined avenues. However, Suburbanisation should not be limited to housing, as industries have also suburbanised.

Not all suburbs are the same, and there are several distinguishable types. Although many suburbs are populated by the urban middle class, they are not uniform in many respects. The TIME when they were built, the planners that were involved and the physical surroundings of the environment can all influence the characteristics and layout of a suburb. During the industrial revolution, richer classes fled to suburbs away from industrial areas, living in large terraced town houses (e.g. Jesmond in Newcastle is North of the city and well away from the old industrial areas south along the river). During the interwar period plot sizes where ample and semidetached housing was favoured in many locations, High Heaton in Newcastle is a good example of this. Recreational facilities, local shops and low building densities were characteristic features. More recently land prices have risen and land is at a premium as population grows in Britain, so building densities have increased and many modern suburbs include flats and taller town houses with smaller gardens. Cunning developers can also market detached houses with little space between the buildings.

Suburban house building has also been affected by transport and communication innovations - continuing improvements of arterial routes to the city centre, the development of underground railways, tram lines, etc. have all affected the suburbs and their development. All of these factors mean that suburbs may actually be quite varied in their size and type of housing. Newcastle Great Park, for example, is perfectly placed alongside the A1 in Newcastle.

These patterns are further complicated in Britain because we have huge social housing projects (council housing) that have provided affordable housing for low income people, also in suburban locations.

In addition, it should be considered that suburbs in Britain are not the same as suburbs in other European cities and suburbs in the USA and Australia. These tend to be much lower density and increase dependency upon the car. You can read more about these types of suburb here.

Suburbanisation is a big issue in the UK because it is a reasonably small country in terms of surface area which has a large and growing population (the ONS thinks we could hit 70million people in 2033). This gives Britain a high population density, particularly in the South of the country. The result of this is housing shortages and high property prices. The number of households has risen by 30% in the UK since 1971 and in part this is because more and more people live on their own. This is coupled with rising life expectancies and high levels of immigration, all combining to produce a housing shortage. The government would like to build 240,000 houses every year until 2016 to stop this shortage and stabilise house prices, but WHERE SHOULD THESE HOUSES BE BUILT?

Green belt– a tract of open land consisting of farmland woodland, and open recreational areas surrounding urban areas. They are protected by law from new building, unless the government deems it necessary to build there.
Greenfield site– a term used to describe any area of land that has not been developed previously.
Brownfield site – an old industrial or inner city site that is cleared for a new building development.

Building in the green belt on undeveloped green field sites is a very controversial and contentious issue. Population growth in the UK, the trend towards smaller family units and the demand for people to live at the edge of the city has put incredible pressure on the countryside surrounding all of our major cities. In addition, the fact that land is cheaper and often more accessible at the edge of the city has meant that Light industry (e.g. Atmel at Silverlink), High Tech Industry (e.g. Sage at Newcastle Great Park) and retail (e.g. the Metro Centre) like to locate there. But should we be building in these areas? The positives of brownfield and greenfield sites are shown above.

One such controversial scheme was developed at the Northern Edge of Newcastle upon Tyne, at Newcastle Great Park.

Newcastle Great Park is a major housing and commercial development that has been built on a Greenfield site (land that has never been built upon before) within the greenbelt (an area of land that is protected by law from development) of Newcastle. It is located in the north of Newcastle next to Gosforth and the government gave special permission for this development to go ahead. There are many different interest groups who think the development should go ahead including the developers (Persimmons homes), the government and the council and some home owners. Conservationists and environmentalists, some home owners and some urban planners think the scheme is a bad idea.

Arguments for NGP

Arguments against NGP

1. 2,500 new homes in a parkland setting of 442 hectares will be complete. Useful for richer residents and generating income for the developers.

2. There will be 80 hectares of commercial development which could generate jobs. Already, the £50m headquarters for Newcastle computer group Sage have been completed. It is expected the software firm's 575,000 sq ft building headquarters will provide jobs for 1,500 workers within two years.

3. There is an integrated transport plan which will see every home not more than 400 metres from a bus stop, 27km of cycle routes in and around NGP, a discount cycle purchase scheme for residents and a car share database on the Internet.

4. A full time ranger will be employed to manage the country park to ensure local wildlife conservation

5. The development lies adjacent to the A1, which will be widened and improved, and is within easy reach of the airport, providing excellent opportunities for national and international travel.

6. It is hoped that the scheme will slow down the net loss of 1,500 people per year who migrate from Newcastle.

1. The three-storey properties priced from £188,000 are well beyond the average wage of people in Newcastle.

2. Environmentalists are concerned about the impact upon Red Squirrel (an endangered species) and deer populations which inhabit this area North of Newcastle.

3. The NGP housing plans contradict the principles of no/little development in the Green Belt. The greenbelt was designed to prevent urban sprawl into countryside areas which have recreation and agricultural uses.

4. There is space for around 20,000 high quality homes on brownfield sites near to the city centre in the East and West end of the city. These areas (e.g. Scotswood, Benwell and Byker) are in decline since the loss of the shipping industry and are in need of a boost.

5. There is no guarantee of job creation.

6. Traffic volumes in Gosforth and Newcastle city centre will increase.

Improving inner-city areas could slow down out migration.