Abstract
Globalization has increased the flow of transnational migrants into many European and North American cities. These shifting socio-demographic patterns have resulted in the rapid development of ‘cosmopolitan’ urban centres where difference and diversity are ubiquitous (Sandercock, 2003). However, as ethnic enclaves form outside the urban core in suburban communities, there is uncertainty about whether cultural homogeneity is desirable or sustainable in a multicultural country. Indeed, planning communities for increasing diversity and difference will remain, what Leonie Sandercock (2004) calls, “one of the greatest tasks for planners of the 21st century”. Thus, this article uses the theory of hyper-diversity to illuminate how immigrants’ interactions with their local suburban community represents cultural pluralism and diversity beyond ethnicity. Specifically, this study explores differing attitudes, activities and lifestyles among diverse immigrant populations in the Region of Peel, one of the fastest growing and most culturally diverse areas in Canada. Focus groups with 60 immigrant youth and 55 immigrant adults were conducted to qualitatively capture perspectives and experiences in ethnic enclaves. The findings highlight the existence of attitudes in favor of multicultural lifestyles, activities that take newcomers beyond the borders of their enclaves, and lifestyles that require additional infrastructure to support sustainability of immigration in the suburbs. In conclusion, this article adds to the debate on cultural pluralism and ‘homogeneous’ ethnic enclaves by using the emergent concept of hyper-diversity as a way to think about the future sustainability of suburbs in an era of global migration.
Highlights
Globalization has increased the flow and diversity of transnational migrants into many European and North American cities (Castles, de Haas, & Miller, 2013)
Recent Canadian Census data indicates that among the 63% of newcomers who settle in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area, over half were in suburban municipalities
In 2016, ethnic-minority concentrations had intensified in Greater Toronto Area (GTA) suburbs resulting in the rise of primary enclaves where one ethnic group comprises the majority of the population (Qadeer & Agrawal, 2018)
Summary
Globalization has increased the flow and diversity of transnational migrants into many European and North American cities (Castles, de Haas, & Miller, 2013). The vast majority of these immigrants continue to make urban centres their destination of choice with over two-thirds first settling in the three largest cities of Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto (Statistics Canada, 2017b). These transnational migration patterns coupled with ‘planetary urbanization’ (Brenner, 2014) have resulted in the rapid development of ‘cosmopolitan’ urban centres where difference and diversity are ubiquitous (Sandercock, 2003). 46) suggest that suburbs are “increasingly entry points for international migrants, pointing towards the consistent manifestation of suburban multicultural spaces” This supports claims that the rapid urbanization of the 21st century will occur on the peripheries of urban centres, creating what Keil (2018) calls a ‘suburban planet’. In light of the projected and required rise in immigration, planning suburban communities that can socially sustain Canada’s diverse populations of today and the future is a crucial priority
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