Introduction

Suburban building estates make up more than 50% of all European building stock. For each country, this represents a substantial fraction of the total value of the housing stock. These urban areas are primarily residential and are home to a large part of the population. Beyond differences in the ways in which governments have handled the development and transformation of the cities and the land, the common characteristic of all suburban areas – and in particular those suburbs of medium to large cities – is lower quality of life; and in many cases, widespread social unrest. The effectiveness and success of a policy of urban renewal and regeneration, depends on knowledge of these factors, and on the priorities assigned to these factors as objectives. The first steps to develop models and common strategies for intervention are, the investigation of the characteristics of suburban areas in various countries, comparison among the factors that determine degradation, and study of the experience of renewal. This is the direction of the work of the research group of Action TU0701