Building Utopias on Sand: The production of space in Almere and the future of suburbia

Cities and suburbs are on the brink of a new era. Decades-long suburbanisation of the affluent and the socially mobile has almost ceased as we knew it. In its place there is now city gentrification and suburban diversification, upsetting linear understandings of mobilities on the metropolitan level. In his dissertation Yannis Tzaninis addresses the puzzle of contemporary production of (sub)urban space by investigating the former suburban new town Almere, a space and place caught in a vortex of global change. Through the analysis of municipal statistics, and by conducting a survey and interviews with current and former residents of Almere, he analyses people’s mobilities, experiences and aspirations. He finds that placemaking processes are fluid and adapt to wider social changes, while households are pushed and pulled depending on material resources, aspirations and city branding. In conclusion he uncovers the character and future of suburbia, advancing our understanding of urban growth, placemaking and mobility.