Residential Design Guidelines, Aesthetic Governmentality, and Contested Notions of Southern California Suburban Places

Abstract

Since the 1970s, San Gabriel Valley suburban cities have become a desirable destination for thousands of immigrants from Taiwan, Hong Kong, mainland China, and Southeast Asia, but their remaking of existing residential landscapes has provoked controversy and opposition. At play are two contrasting real estate value regimes: a regional or transnational perspective held by most immigrants and a traditional or preservationist view advocated by long‐term, mostly white residents. This study explores the role of urban planners' use of residential design guidelines to limit and shape home construction practices in four cities. The delineation of common components of “aesthetic governmentality,” including episteme, identities, visibility, techne, and ethos, framed the examination of the guidelines and design review procedures. Analysis reveals the challenges planners and design review boards face implementing regulations based on expert understandings of visual architectural forms. Although initially resistant to such design requirements, immigrants finally complied by hiring design professionals in the same way long‐term residents do.

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