Josephine Rekers
Senior lecturer
Ethnic packaging and gentrification : The case of four neighborhoods in Toronto
Author
Summary, in English
Urban theory has historically situated ethnic commercial strips as an organic extension of nearby ethnic residential enclaving. While this is still a useful way to frame such commercial spaces in many cities, this article argues that some areas of this sort function as a marketable branding mechanism (intended or not) to produce nearby residential gentrification. This article explores the influence of ethnic packaging on the process of gentrification in Toronto, Ontario. Using four ethnically defined business-improvement areas - Corso Italia, Little Italy, India Bazaar, and Greektown on the Danforth - it explores the role that constructed ethnicity plays in the valorization of local real estate markets. The commercial areas of these neighborhoods now function increasingly as ways to market each neighborhood's residential real estate markets. This has specific implications for gentrification theory and more general ones for the study of urban landscapes.
Publishing year
2005-11
Language
English
Pages
211-236
Publication/Series
Urban Affairs Review
Volume
41
Issue
2
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Topic
- Social and Economic Geography
Keywords
- Comparative case studies
- Gentrification
- Toronto
- Urban entrepreneurialism
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 1078-0874