stability and stasis, an impression painted with the many adjectives most commonly associated with suburban neighbourhoods: peaceful, leafy, quiet, safe (fig. 2.20-2.21). As a dwelling it seems to occupy a space in the collective imagination equivalent to a computer game’s ‘save progress so far’ command, an impression supported by Archer’s description of suburbia as a “datum” (p.351, 2005): a “datum of opportunity” (ibid.), of quality of life. Though a prospect that is undeniably deeply attractive to many, the notion of suburbia as a realm of ‘the finished life’ becomes problematic when perceived as creating a tendency for passivity, conservatism and risk-aversion. In this instance, the suburbs, originally sites of innovation, become stale. Whilst the fear of the big, bad world beyond the suburb might be a justified one, future suburbia has the challenge of negotiating a way of providing security in a more healthy way that mediates rather than excludes.
2.3 fig. 2.20-2.21 The peaceful and leafy cul-de-sacs of the town
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