Which Agenda for the Italian Suburbs? Debating a Marginal Condition in Few Steps

At a time when the seek for a broader understanding of contempo- rary suburbs is finding a reasonable global consideration, a specific attention to the suburbanisms, i.e. suburban ways of living, is still a slightly unexplored issue in the governance agenda. Despite the significance of insightful researches, studies and theories of Italian urbanization, Italian suburbs look wedged between urban and rural agendas, without finding a reasonable framework on which to build further strategies aimed at tackling the increasing socio-spatial inequalities that are unevenly shaping Italian in-between urban edges. Accord- ing to these viewpoints, the paper employs a theoretical discussion of the marginal condition experienced by Italian suburbs, framing such marginality in few steps. First, the paper runs into the complexities of “suburban Italy” in a post-suburban framework. Second, moving from these first insights, the exis- tence of Italian suburbs is questioned in analytical terms. Third, the paper set out the conditions from which to observe the lack of strategies for the Italian urban edges, entrenched between rural and urban agenda. To conclude, a body of final remarks for further studies is introduced towards an operational setting of suburban studies with reference to Italy.