***Apologies for multiple postings Second Call for Abstracts (due by April 30, 2007) International conference Reston, Virginia, USA April 6-April 8, 2008 A Suburban World? Global Decentralization and the New Metropolis Hosted by Dr. Robert Lang (Metropolitan Institute), Dr. Paul Knox (Virginia Tech), and Dr. Edward Blakeley (University of Sydney) We have entered a new era where the areas outside worldwide core cities are forming different settlement systems. In Europe, even tight building controls have not curbed the appetite of households to move out of the central cities. China and India, with fast-growing middle classes, are witnessing a startling expansion of their urban areas with rapid auto-dependent growth on the fringe. Mexico and Indonesia are beginning to adapt American-style suburban development patterns. As urban form changes, new research and policy have to be created to address the challenges of sprawl, congestion, and affordable housing. This conference will explore these and other issues in the American as well as international context. Tracks: * Immigration/Changing Demographics of the Suburbs * Special Segregation by Lifestyle/Economics; Gated Communities * Megapolitans/Metropolitan Form * Transportation * Energy Consumption/Sustainable Environment * Disasters/Adaptation * Transnational Communities/Residential Tourism * Governance & Regulation * Business of Suburbia/Economic Development/Economic Space * Suburban Decline * Urban Form at the Neighborhood Level * Newburbia/Newtowns * History Conference Website: http://www.mi.vt.edu/ Questions: [log in to unmask] Katrin B. Anacker Post Doctoral Fellow Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech Suite 100 1021 Prince St. Alexandria, VA 22314 e. [log in to unmask] ph. 703.838.8320 fx. 703.518.8009 www.mi.vt.edu _______________________________________________________ [log in to unmask] An urban geography discussion and announcement forum List Archives: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/URB-GEOG-FORUM Maintained by: RGS-IBG Urban Geography Research Group UGRG Home Page: http://www.urban-geography.org.uk