The Suburban Area: A Global Phenomenon?

Abstract

This research attempts to answer the question: “How has the suburban area globalized, specifically focusing on the Dutch case?”. In order to analyze similarities and differences between American and two Dutch suburbs, American and Dutch scholarly theory is used. Aspects these scholars consider essential to the definition of a suburb are used for the comparison. This research found that American and Dutch scholarly perceptions of a suburb are largely similar. Results of this research indicate that Dutch and American suburban areas are very similar when looking at them in practice, in line with the scholarly perceptions. In some respects, though, the Dutch situation is unlike its American counterpart because in the Netherlands, the government interferes more with Dutch suburbs. Keywords: suburban area, Oak Park, multilateral comparison, the Netherlands, United States, Nijmegen Lent, Nijmegen Dukenburg