Markham's new urbanist paradigm : neoliberalism, gentrification and competitive governance

The rise of competitive governance through the ideology of neoliberalism has led to contemporary development projects that rely on capital accumulation to economically prosper. Given that a majority of current literature pertaining to competitive governance is fundamentally urban, this paper argues that this phenomenon is also occurring in suburban areas. Utilizing the Langstaff Gateway in the Town of Markham, Ontario as a case study, this paper outlines the ramifications of competitive governance as it relates to new urbanism and the recently coined term of new-build gentrification. An argument is made that the Langstaff Gateway represents the most contemporary new-urbanist development paradigm within the Greater Golden Horseshoe. Two major components frame this paper: the first elaborates upon neoliberalism through a critical geographical perspective, while the second provides pragmatic planning evidence of this phenomenon "on the ground" through the Langstaff Gateway. Findings suggest that, although inherently entrenched within municipal and metropolitan neoliberal governance frameworks, the Langstaff Gateway represents a progressively-planned paradigm toward suburban intensification in the Greater Golden Horseshoe.