Inner suburb is a term used for a variety of
suburbThe word suburb mostly refers to a residential area, either existing as part of a city or as a separate residential community within commuting distance of a city . Some suburbs have a degree of administrative autonomy, and most have lower population density than inner city neighborhoods...
an communities that are generally located very close to a large city. Their
urban densityUrban density is a term used in urban planning and urban design to refer to the number of people inhabiting a given urbanized area. As such it is to be distinguished from other measures of population density. Urban density is considered an important factor in understanding how cities function...
is lower than the
inner cityThe inner city is the central area of a major city or metropolis. In the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and Ireland, the term is often applied to the lower-income residential districts in the city centre and nearby areas...
or
Central Business DistrictA central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
(CBD).
In the
Commonwealth countriesThe Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
(especially Australia and New Zealand), it refers to or to the
innermost ringThe Concentric zone model also known as the Burgess model is one of the earliest theoretical models to explain urban social structures. It was created by sociologist Ernest Burgess in 1924. -The model:...
of suburbs that lie outside the
city limitsThe terms city limits and city boundary refer to the defined boundary or border of a city. The area within the city limits is sometimes called the city proper. The terms town limits/boundary and village limits/boundary mean the same as city limits/boundary, but apply to towns and villages...
, as in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In Australia, the inner suburbs of large cities are often the densest residential areas of the city, and generally consist of older, established housing, multi-storey apartments, and dense commercial and industrial development; the outer suburbs are generally newer and more residential. Traditionally, inner suburbs have been home to the
working classWorking class is a term used in the social sciences and in ordinary conversation to describe those employed in lower tier jobs , often extending to those in unemployment or otherwise possessing below-average incomes...
, but as manufacturing jobs have migrated to the periphery of cities, property prices have increased and many of the inner suburbs have become
gentrifiedGentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
. In some provincial cities in Australia, the inner suburbs remain low density but are the subject of
urban renewalUrban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
as the city grows.
In the United States, inner suburbs (sometimes known as "first-ring" suburbs) are the older, more populous communities of a
metropolitan areaThe term metropolitan area refers to a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories, sharing industry, infrastructure, and housing. A metropolitan area usually encompasses multiple jurisdictions and municipalities: neighborhoods, townships,...
with histories that significantly predate those of their outer suburban or exurban counterparts.