This manuscript focuses on the development of hybrid city-country (penurban) landscapes around large urban areas which mesh stylized countryside with functional links to the cities. These landscapes are central to American mindsets as they combine the dreams, expectations, and experiences of the nation in expressive cultural landscapes. An interpretive-analytical methodology is used in this single-authored, multidisciplinary work which draws on insights from history, American Studies, social sciences, urban studies, and environmental studies, and cultural studies in order to portray lifestyle and settlement phenomena overlooked by single disciplinary fields. Telling the story of how penurban landscapes emerged, the work blends original research with a re-reading of existing work to understand developing lifestyle and settlement patterns. The book aims at readers in history, urban studies, environmental studies, consumerism and American Studies.

Autorentext
JOSEPH GODDARD is an Associate Professor of American Studies at the University of Aalborg in Denmark, and has previously taught at the University of Copenhagen and Copenhagen Business School. Goddard co-authors Contemporary America, which will soon appear in a fully-revised fourth edition.

Inhalt
Introducing Penurbia  Thinking about City Edges  Penurbanites and Exurbanites - Peoples of the Fringe  Charting Penurban Growth  Politics, Planning, and Administration  Penurban Civil Society  Images from Popular Culture  Magazines and Penurbia  Professional Views of Penurban Change