Matt Hern argues that the changing relationship between the urban center and the suburban periphery forces us to rethink the entire identity of the city. Today, the majority of the Western world lives on the fringes of the city. However, these neighborhoods, which once offered safety and respite from the perceived dangers of the center, have been radically transformed in recent years into poor, working-class, and racialized communities. The book "Outside the Outside" maps these changes and advocates for the revival of the social life of the city as a whole.

Hern shows how the language that devalues parts of the urban space as “outside” and characterizes other parts as “center” echoes colonial forms of domination. This should not surprise us at a time when communities are forced to move to and beyond the periphery due to ghettoization. With reporting from various locations such as Vancouver, Portland, London, Ferguson, and Rabat, Hern demonstrates the need to challenge our misconceptions and see “downgraded areas” as vibrant sites of resistance and regeneration, celebrating the mobility, traffic, and difference found there.

Pages: 192, Year of Publication: 0702, Dimensions: 14x14cm