Published between 2003 and 2007, Opolis was the first academic journal specifically focused on suburban studies. Suburbs increasingly dominate urban development throughout the world. Over half the population of the U.S. now lives in suburbs, while recent metropolitan growth in Europe , Australia , and East Asia has shifted dramatically to the edge. Even many developing nations—long home to big “primate cities”—have experienced explosive suburban growth. Yet suburbia remains an under-researched topic given its size, scale, and centrality to society.

 

Much of the existing literature demonizes the suburbs and attributes an endless array of social and environmental problems to them. Opolis covered all dimensions of suburbia: the good, the bad, and (as the cliché goes) the ugly. It especially invites articles that explore suburbs on their own terms and not as intrinsically inferior places to cities. In that spirit, Opolis also sought new ways of understanding suburbia—including analysis that rethinks the roles that cities and suburbs play in the region.