A Comparative Political Ecology of Exurbia ― Planning, Environmental Management, and Landscape Change

The idea for this book emerged out of a series of sessions at the 2011 meeting of the American Association of Geographers entitled: Landscapes out of Place? Political Ecologies of Exurbia. The three sessions were organized around three themes: land use/land cover, managing environmental impacts, and regional and cultures. The presentations were very well received and from these the Editors identified those studies that they felt best exemplify how political ecology as an analytical approach helps to make sense of the kind of conflicts we see in exurbia. Authors not part of the presentation series were invited to be part of the collection where their work assists in rounding out the discussion.? While the process of transition from productive to “consumptive” uses is not new, the perspective of this book unleashes the analytical power of political ecology, an emerging approach from human geography. Political ecology considers the politics of uneven access to natural resources and nature. The Editors take a bold step forward in explaining how and why changes in landscape ideology, deeply embedded in society’s imagination of nature, have such far-reaching effects on emerging real estate markets, local planning and people’s very livelihoods in the communities affected. Far from vilifying developers for producing exurban sprawl, they delve into the reasons for home-buyers to choose areas of high natural beauty and provide a “chain of explanation” discussing the role of environmental scientists, land use planners, property owners and land managers in propelling and resisting these changes.