edge city

noun

1. an area on the outskirts of a city having a high density of office buildings, shopping malls, hotels, etc.

Word History and Origins

Origin of edge city¹

An Americanism dating back to 1985–90

Example Sentences

We’ve had the industrial revolution, the skyscraper, the suburbs, the edge city, the superstar tech city, and now this.

Read more on Seattle Times

At the time, Tysons Corner was the embodiment of what the author Joel Garreau called an edge city — a concentration, outside a big city, of daytime shopping, entertainment and business that emptied at night.

Read more on New York Times

The premier Edge City of the Northwest seemed unstoppable.

Read more on Seattle Times

An Edge City often has its roots in a shopping center, is near freeways and is usually car-dependent.

Read more on Seattle Times

This kind of place-making from scratch has become common in the Washington area — think North Bethesda’s Pike and Rose, Fairfax’s Mosaic District, the Yards along the Anacostia — but it’s interesting to see it happening in Tysons, once defined as an “Edge City” because, while it was technically located in Washington’s suburbs, large crowds commuted into Tysons in the morning, and left again at night.

Read more on Washington Post