Planning for Diversity in a Suburban Retrofit Context: The Case of Ethnic Shopping Malls in the Toronto Area

<p dir="ltr">Recent waves of immigration have had a dramatic impact on urban economies and the landscapes of Canadian metropolitan regions. With increasing suburbanization of immigrant settlement, ethnic shopping malls have emerged as a noticeable phenomenon in suburban regions of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). The dynamics of ethnic retailing generate significant community changes and raise questions for planners in terms of land use, built form, parking capacity, economic development, and community building. This chapter investigates the development and retrofit processes of several ethnic shopping malls located at the major intersection of Steeles Avenue East and Kennedy Road bordering the City of Toronto and the City of Markham. Specifically, it examines how these ethnic malls were developed since the 1990s in response to the growing Chinese population in the area and the booming Asian-oriented businesses and how they successfully regenerated the area once affected by business decline but also presented unprecedented challenges to the planning system. The chapter also examines the evolving role of city planners in facilitating the new retail form and addressing the challenges it poses, followed by a summary of lessons learned. The findings presented in this chapter reveal that the suburban ethnic mall is not a stand-alone phenomenon; instead, it should be treated as an important part of the community. Planners must think beyond technicalities and exert more control on the free market in order to help nurture and sustain the emerging ethnic market that can, in turn, be a lucrative tool for the larger economy and contribute to community-building.</p>