Greater Toronto Chinese Downtown
Abstract:
Greater
Toronto
Chinese
Downtown
(GTCD)
is
the
largest
Chinese
Canadian
community
in
the
Greater
Toronto
Area
and
one
of
the
world’s
most
unique
Chinese
diasporic
cities
outside
of
Asia.
Created
by
the
sudden
influx
of
Hong
Kong
and
Chinese
immigrants
since
the
early
1980s,
Toronto’s
suburbs
have
become
the
center
of
the
Chinese
Canadian
community,
hence
our
downtown,
outside
of
downtown
Toronto.
What
appears
to
be
a
random
and
incohesive
social
space
has
turned
my
attention
to
the
ways
of
this
cultural
network
has
formed
in
a
suburban
context.
In
this
thesis,
I
begin
with
a
theoretical
description
of
architectural
innovation
and
typological
development
of
Chinese
malls.
With
archival
research,
on-site
observation,
mapping,
and
family
stories,
this
thesis
produces
a
catalogue
of
cultural
production
and
hybridization
based
in
ten
architectural
mall
typologies,
which
have
never
been
studied
before.
However,
the
catalogue
is
not
enough
to
fully
understand
the
difficult
development
and
transformation
of
the
Greater
Toronto
Chinese
Downtown.
Seven
Urban
Figures
are
studied
through
a
series
of
historical
narratives,
illustrated
through
mapping
and
archival
material,
to
uncover
the
struggles
and
celebrations
of
the
Chinese
Canadian
community.
This
work
expands
the
theory
and
methodology
of
urban
morphology.
Previous
academic
research
has
dismissed
Toronto’s
suburbs
as
a
static
context
for
individual
building
achievements.
Ultimately,
this
thesis
is
dedicated
to
recognizing
the
informal
GTCD
and
its
malls
as
a
significant
cultural
space,
over
the
last
forty
years.
It
asks,
what
urban
strategies
and
architectural
innovation
were
used
in
the
suburban
context
to
make
the
Chinese
Canadian
community
unique?
The examining committee is as follows:
Supervisor:
Adrian
Blackwell
Committee
member:
Val
Rynnimeri
Internal-external
reader:
Di
Tang
External:
Yan
Wu,
Public
Art
Curator,
City
of
Markham
The
defence
examination
will
take
place:
Friday,
December
16,
2022,
9:00
a.m.
This
will
be
taking
place
online
via
Teams.
Please
contact the
grad
office or
the
student
for
the
Teams
link.
The
committee
has
been
approved
as
authorized
by
the
Graduate
Studies
Committee.
A
copy
of
the
thesis
is
available
for
perusal
in
ARC
2106A.