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Suburbanisation is the process by which a population and jobs shift from the core city of an urban region to outlying areas. Suburbanisation has taken place in the major cities of the Western world in several waves since the 19th century. It is closely associated with shifts in transport modes from public transport to private motorisation and with sociospatial segregation processes. Owing to less dense land use in suburban residential, commercial, and industrial locations, suburbanisation exacerbates land consumption, urban sprawl, and the proliferation of private motorised transport. Whereas during the suburbanisation wave from about 1960 in western Germany the exodus of the urban population preceded the departure of commerce and industry from the core city, “catch-up” suburbanisation in East Germany from 1990 onwards was led by large-scale retail establishments before residential outmigration occurred. In recent decades, suburbanisation, especially as far as housing is concerned, has tended to shift to rural areas increasingly distant from cities. This process is termed “exurbanisation” or “periurbanisation”.