CHANGING EVERYDAY PRACTICES IN SUBURBAN SPACES: A METHODOLOGY TO INVESTIGATE LOCAL TRENDS

Abstract

Urban and suburban spaces are social and multidimensional. The city and its suburbia constitute an arena of diverse and conflicting social processes. Their social differentiation is manifested, first of all, in housing segregation and diversity of various types and forms of life activity. Social interactions and relationships between individuals and social groups take place in the social space of the city and the suburbia. Their behavioural practices lie at the intersection of economic, social, cultural, environmental, and urban planning domains of urban functioning and manifest themselves in everyday practices. The concepts addressing the research of everyday practices were designed and tested in the fields of sociology, history, and economy. The goal of this article is to develop a methodology for the study of local trends of changing everyday practices in suburban spaces of cities with different functions on the bases of human geography and urban science. The authors propose to study everyday social practices using actor-network theory, making possible to consider the variability of everyday practices of suburban residents as a network of interaction between actors (people, non-people, and ideas) that create, act and change. The initial phase of the research involves a general analysis of the processes and paradigms of suburban development of model cities by analysing scientific literature, field trips to selected suburban areas, use of remote sensing data and local media screening. Based on this analysis, the cases (test areas) are determined. The analytical stage of the study tries to identify characteristics, factors and trends of the temporal changes in the everyday practices of the population of selected areas, focusing on the everyday practices of leisure and self-organization. This stage of the study involves comparative historical and comparative geographical analysis, mapping, in-depth interviews, as well as field observations. The ending stage aims at identification of current trends and peculiarities of changing everyday practices in ambiguous suburban spaces and developing recommendations for local governments and planning agencies.