Creating Third Places: Ethnic Retailing and Place-making in Metropolitan Toronto

<p dir="ltr">The increasing suburban immigrant settlements in the Toronto region have created retail development opportunities reflective of the changing demographics, as well as place-making opportunities for suburban municipalities. This chapter explores how suburban ethnic retail space evolves, how cultural identity is expressed through ethnic retail activities and inscribes a place with meaning, and how ethnic retail places contribute to community-building via the creation of third places. Municipalities need to understand the dynamics and concentration effects of suburban ethnic retailing and how they can create a sense of place and community. This will help municipalities integrate ethnic retailing into suburban retrofitting schemes and maximise their social and economic contributions to community building. Additional research is needed to clarify ways to nurture and sustain emerging ethnic markets and make them more inclusive, which could be a lucrative tool for the broader economy and could contribute to place-making and community-building. Clarifying these aspects of the ethnic retail phenomenon will better accommodate the growing immigrant population, facilitate their retail activities, and importantly, improve the community as a whole.</p>