This book is of great interest to anyone who is interested in the history and current trends of suburbia in all of the top 4 English-speaking nations (i.e. the U.S., the U.K., Canada, and Australia).
I was especially interested in the one chapter about post-war suburban development in Australia, because I am interested in how Australia's suburbia compares with that of North America (the U.S. and Canada). This is the first book I have found so far that has detalied information on the history and current trends of Australia's suburbia. From what I have read in this book, it doesn't sound as if Australia's suburbia is very different from that of Canada.
I was a little surprised by the fact that the one chapter about Australia's post-war suburbia doesn't give any explanation for why the suburbs of Australia's major cities are served by more extensive networks of commuter rail service than the suburbs of comparably sized Canadian cities. I would never know that from what I read in this book, but I happen to know that from other sources. Knowing from this book that Australia's suburbs are just as spread out as those of Canada, I am surprised that they have more extensive networks of commuter rail service! I know that European cities have more extensive networks of commuter rail service (than Canada) too, but they are also more densely populated and less spread out than those of Canada or Australia.
