Preface

This book is an urban history of Chinatowns in Canada.It traces the transformation of the physical and cultural landscapes of Canadian Chinatowns from 1858 to 1988 and analyzes their origins, locations, viability, and socioeconomic and image changes.The book is also concerned with Chinese immigration to Canada and the changing demographic characteristics of Chinese people in the country.It attempts to shed new light on the characteristics of Chinatowns across Canada, which have been rarely examined by sociologists, historians, or geographers.In the past, a "Chinatown" was a self-contained urban enclave where nearly all Chinese people, their businesses, and their social institutions were confined.Physically and functionally, it was "a town within a town."In the old days, Chinatown was regarded by the white community as a segregated, mysterious ghetto of prostitution, gambling, opium-smoking, and other vices, but it was considered by the Chinese people as a home where they could find pleasure, comfort, and companionship; it was a sanctuary where they were secure from threats and discrimination.Since the end of the Second World War, Chinatowns throughout Canada have undergone substantial changes.Usually one of the earliest settled inner-city neighbourhoods, Chinatowns are often part of the depressed downtown residential and commercial districts of a modern city.In the course of slum clearance or urban renewal programs, some Chinatowns have been destroyed and others relocated and rebuilt.A few old Chinatowns still survive in situ, but they are depopulated: most of their residents have moved to other parts of the city for better accommodation.Since 1967, new types of Chinese immigrants have come to Canada, mostly from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asian countries.The entrepreneur immigrants revitalized the economy of Old Chinatowns and created New Chinatowns.The thrust of new investment and new pride is felt not only in Chinatowns of large metropolitan cities, such as Toronto and Vancouver, but also in Chinatowns of smaller cities such as Edmonton and Calgary.During the past twenty years, I have surveyed one

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