From Chinatown to ethnoburb : the Chinese in Toronto

Abstract

The definition, face, and location of Chinatowns have changed significantly as Chinese communities establish themselves inside and beyond their boundaries. This paper demonstrates that both the older and contemporary Chinatowns in the Greater Toronto Area have developed in response to patterns of Chinese migration relative to the socioeconomic, political, and cultural status of the Chinese in Canadian society. The history of the Chinese in Canada has been examined in many historical works, such as by Morton (1973), Con (1982), and Lai (1988). On the narrower subject of the Chinese in Toronto, academic research is extensive on a variety of topics reflecting the complexity and diversity of the Chinese communities, including the landmark papers of the early Chinese community by Mah (1977; 1978). The transition out of the downtown core into the suburbs has been studied, as by Lo 1997; however, only one book, Toronto’s Chinatown, has been published (Thompson, 1989) and this one focuses on its social organizations.