DIVERCITIES: Dealing with Urban Diversity: the Case of Toronto
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DIVERCITIES Governing Urban Diversity: governing urban diversity Creating Social Cohesion, Social Mobility and Economic Performance in Today’s Hyper-diversified Cities Dealing with Urban Diversity Dealing with This book is one of the outcomes of the DIVERCITIES project. It focuses on the question of how to create social cohesion, social Urban Diversity • mobility and economic performance in today’s hyper-diversified cities. The Case of Toronto The Case of Toronto The project’s central hypothesis is that urban diversity is an asset; it can inspire creativity, innovation and make cities more liveable. There are fourteen books in this series: Antwerp, Athens, Budapest, Copenhagen, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Milan, Tuna Tasan-Kok Paris, Rotterdam, Tallinn, Toronto, Warsaw and Zurich. Sara Ozogul This project has received funding from the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under www.urbandivercities.eu grant agreement No. 319970. SSH.2012.2.2.2-1; Governance of cohesion and diversity in urban contexts. DIVERCITIES: Dealing with Urban Diversity The Case of Toronto Tuna Tasan-Kok Sara Ozogul Governing Urban Diversity: Creating Social Cohesion, Social Mobility and Economic Performance in Today’s Hyper-diversified Cities To be cited as: Tasan-Kok, T. and Ozogul, S. (2017). Lead Partner DIVERCITIES, Living with Urban Diversity: The case - Utrecht University, The Netherlands of Toronto. Amsterdam and Delft: University of Amsterdam and TU Delft. Consortium Partners This report has been put together by the authors, - University of Vienna, Austria and revised on the basis of the valuable comments, suggestions, and contributions of all DIVERCITIES - University of Antwerp, Belgium partners. - Aalborg University, Denmark - University of Tartu, Estonia The views expressed in this report are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily - University Paris-Est Créteil, France reflect the views of European Commission - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Germany - Fachhochschule Erfurt, Germany - National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), Greece - University of Szeged, Hungary - University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Italy - University of Amsterdam, Netherlands - Delft University of Technology (TUDelft), The Netherlands - Polish Academy of Sciences, Poland - synergo Mobility-Politics-Space GmbH, Switzerland - Middle East Technical University (METU), Turkey - University College London, United Kingdom Advisory Board - Jan Vranken, University of Antwerp, Belgium - David Hulchanski, University of Toronto, ISBN 978 90 6266 461 0 Canada © 2017 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, by print or photo print, microfilm or any other means, without written permission by the publishers. Copy Editors: Melissa Lee and David Wills Cover Image: Sara Ozogul Design & Layout: C&M, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, The Netherlands Printed by: Xerox, The Netherlands A digital version of this report is available on the DIVERCITIES website: http://www.urbandivercities.eu In memory of Ronald van Kempen CONTENTS Preface 7 List of abbreviations 8 1 Dealing with urban diversity: an introduction 9 1.1 Introduction 9 1.2 The purpose of the book 11 1.2 Diversity and its effects: some key conceptual relations 11 1.4 The outline and main arguments of this book 16 2 Toronto as a diverse city 21 2.1 Locating Toronto 21 2.2 Diverse-city Toronto: Origins and causes of diversity in Toronto 27 2.3 Socio-spatial dynamics of diversity in Toronto 30 2.4 Diversity, economic dynamics and entrepreneurship in Toronto 33 2.5 Conclusions: Challenges and opportunities of Toronto as a diverse city 37 3 Policy discourses on diversity 41 3.1 Introduction 41 3.2 Methodology 42 3.3 National policy approaches to diversity: Structure and shifts 43 3.4 Governmental narratives and discourses of diversity in Toronto 45 3.5 Non-governmental views on diversity policy 57 3.6 Governance arrangements and initiatives 59 3.7 Conclusions 65 4 Residents dealing with diversity 67 4.1 Introduction 67 4.2 Methodology 68 4.3 Housing choice and residential mobility 69 4.4 Perceptions of diversity in the neighbourhood 72 4.5 Activities in and outside the neighbourhood 75 4.6 Social cohesion 78 4.7 Social mobility 80 4.8 Perceptions of public policies 81 4.9 Conclusions 83 5 Entrepreneurs dealing with diversity 85 5.1 Introduction 85 5.2 Methodology 86 5.3 The entrepreneurs and their businesses 87 5.4 Starting an enterprise in a diverse urban area 92 5.5 Economic performance and the role of urban diversity 99 5.6 Institutional support and government policies 105 5.7 Conclusions 111 6 Conclusions: dealing with urban diversity 115 6.1 Introduction 115 6.2 Brief summary of the book 117 6.3 Urban diversity as an asset or liability? 119 6.4 Suggestions for policy: how to use the results? 120 References 123 Appendices 135 1. Policy platform members 135 2. Interviewees Chapter 3 136 3. Interviewees Chapter 4 139 4. Interviewees Chapter 5 142 Notes 145 PREFACE This book is one of the outcomes of the DIVERCITIES project. It focuses on the question of how to create social cohesion, social mobility and economic performance in today’s hyper- diversified cities. The project’s central hypothesis is that urban diversity is an asset; it can inspire creativity, innovation and make cities more liveable and harmonious. To ensure a more intelligent use of diversity’s potential, a re-thinking of public policies and governance models is needed. Headed by Utrecht University in the Netherlands, DIVERCITIES is a collaborative research project comprising 14 European teams. DIVERCITIES is financed by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme (Project No. 319970). There are fourteen books in this series, one for each case study city. The cities are: Antwerp, Athens, Budapest, Copenhagen, Istanbul, Leipzig, London, Milan, Paris, Rotterdam, Tallinn, Toronto, Warsaw and Zurich. This book is concerned with Toronto. The texts in this book are based on a number of previously published DIVERCITIES reports. We would like to express our gratitude to Prof. Dr. David Hulchanski and Dr. Emily Paradis, our Policy Platform members1 and our respondents in Toronto, especially from the Jane and Finch area, for their continuous support for this project. Without their help this work would not be possible. Part of the research and field study is conducted by the authors under the affiliation of TU Delft and we would like to thank the Department OTB Research for the Built Environment, especially to Prof. Dr. Willem Korthals Altes, for their support and cooperation for this project, and Donya Ahmadi for conducting part of the interviews (Chapter 3 and 4) for us in Toronto and contributing to the respective research reports. This book is dedicated to the loving memory of Prof. Dr. Ronald van Kempen, for supporting and coordinating this project until the last days of his life and inspiring us forever… Tuna Tasan-Kok & Sara Ozogul The Case of Toronto 7 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CMA Census Metropolitan Area GTA Greater Toronto Area JFCFC Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre LGBTQ Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer LIP Local Immigrant Partnership NHS National Household Survey NIA Neighbourhood Improvement Area SMEs Small and Medium-sized Enterprises TCHC Toronto Community Housing Corporation TESS Toronto Employment and Social Services TFWP Temporary Foreign Worker Program TNI Toronto Newcomer Initiative TNO Toronto Newcomer Office TNS Toronto Newcomer Strategy 8 DIVERCITIES: Dealing with Urban Diversity 1 DEALING WITH URBAN DIVERSITY: AN INTRODUCTION 1.1 INTRODUCTION ‘If we think about the ways that communities are constituted not through traditional identity categories, but through more diff use and circumstantial conditions of membership, diversity planning can be engaged in as a process toward a just city, rather than as a tool or an endgame.’ (Pitter and Lorinc, 2016, p. 30) Cities have always been diverse. Th eir development is shaped by social, political and economic forces. In the course of decades, and in many cases centuries, these forces have rendered cities particular assemblages of functions, activities, housing and populations. Th us, even though the concept of diversity is both wide-ranging and context-dependent, it is embedded in the urban fabric. Nonetheless, it seems that the diffi culties of dealing with it are increasing. Governing urban diversity is increasingly complex. In Toronto, the largest city in Canada and claimed to be one of the most diverse in the world, city planning and urban governance are deliberately interlaced in eff orts to accommodate diversity. Nonetheless, the political process could turn diversity into a tool or endgame (ibid., 2016). By analysing the contradictions between policy discourses and everyday experiences in Toronto, this book sheds light on the conditions under which urban diversity can have a positive eff ect on urban residents’ well-being (Figure 1.1). Academics have questioned what causes diversity to intensify, studying unprecedented urbanization, accelerating (global) population mobility (Syrett and Sepulveda, 2007; 2011) and new power and political structures (Cantle, 2012). Th ey have also implicated neoliberal deregulation in studies on rising income inequality, polarization and patterns of socio-spatial Governance Structure & Policy Conditions Social Spatial Conditions Conditions Figure 1.1 Analytical framework for understanding city and neighbourhood