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

The argument that suburbs exploit cities has been made so oftenthat it seems incontestable. Adherents to that view, however,rarely produce evidence for exploitation where suburban-generatedbenefits have been measured and compared with suburban-generatedcosts. Studies that examine only costs are not convincing evidencethat suburbs damage cities. Relatedly, what evidence existsthat metropolitan government fragmentation damages cities, whileconcentration helps them? When studies of those subjects arereviewed, the patterns challenge the suburban-exploitation thesis.Implications are discussed, including the significance for federalstructures of metropolitan governance.