Research Note: Reexamining the Suburban Exploitation Thesis in American Metropolitan Areas

The argument that suburbs exploit cities has been made so often that it seems incontestable. Adherents to that view, however, rarely produce evidence for exploitation where suburban-generated benefits have been measured and compared with suburban-generated costs. Studies that examine only costs are not convincing evidence that suburbs damage cities. Relatedly, what evidence exists that metropolitan government fragmentation damages cities, while concentration helps them? When studies of those subjects are reviewed, the patterns challenge the suburban-exploitation thesis. Implications are discussed, including the significance for federal structures of metropolitan governance. Copyright , Oxford University Press.