Evaluate The Impact Of Suburbanisation On Towns And Cities

With reference to examples, critically assess and evaluate the cause and impact of suburbanisation on towns and cities (40 marks)

Suburbanisation is the growth of the suburbs and suburban areas on the fringes of cities due to natural increase or the movement of people. It is one of the many causes of the increase in urban sprawl. Suburbanisation occurs in many countries, all at different stages of development. Each case of suburbanisation can have different causes, such as urban push factors, and suburban pull factors. A push factor is something that would make someone want to leave an area, whereas a pull factor is something that is appealing about another area so would make them want to move there. An example of an urban push factor is
Soon after these suburbs began to emerge, high density housing developments were built around the edges of the city. People became more aware of the link between standards of living and health, causing more low density housing schemes to come in around Birmingham. One of the most famous suburbs for this would Bournville on the southern edge of Birmingham. The settlement had roads lined with trees, picturesque housing with large gardens, mostly for workers of Cadbury’s. The small suburb soon began to expand, as a result of setting up the Bourneville village trust in 1900. Over the 20 years following, housing densities in the suburbs began to increase slightly. During the time between WWI and WWII, large estates made up of terraced and semi detached housing were built by the local authorities to house the ‘working class workers’ of that time. Although more and more housing was being built, little concern was shown to services in the area, with no corner shops which characterised the suburban life being added. The outward spread of the suburbs was limited by the Restriction of Ribbon Development Act (1935) and by the Green Belt Policy. Suburbanisation in the UK has been severely limited by the Green Belt Policy since then, whereas this policy does not exist in other MEDCS. The restriction of outward growth has since caused a rise in the housing densities of Birmingham’s suburbs. This shows the declining size of houses and the rise in affluence among the younger members of the population. In the Birmingham area and its suburbs, infilling has been one way that the housing density has increased. However the style of housing used in the infilling process has majorly contrasted with the current houses in the area, leaving the area full of diverse estates. Also, improvements of houses like extensions of properties and car bays on semi