Diversity and public space in Canadian cities: special issue.
Rahder, Barbara ; Basu, Ranu ; Gilbert, Liette 等
Respect for diversity and difference is considered a hallmark of
Canadian democracy, but how well are we actually doing? The experiences
and perspectives of communities marginalized by poverty, race/ethnicity,
gender and disability are not well documented or understood when it
comes to planning for the future of our cities and urban regions. With
the growing diversity of Canada's population, an increasing gap
between rich and poor, and a sense of dwindling access to public spaces,
it has never been more important to understand the role of urban public
spaces and institutions in sustaining local social relationships among
and between diverse socio-cultural groups. While issues of
sustainability have been debated for more than a decade, most of the
attention has focused on the economic and ecological dimensions of
sustainability, with little attention paid to the underlying social and
community relationships needed to create and support sustainable cities.
Particularly lacking is an analysis of social sustainability within the
context of increasingly diverse and marginalized urban communities and
the role that urban public spaces and institutions play in this context.
Cities and their surrounding suburbs are critical locations for the
intersection of socio-cultural diversity and spatial diversity (i.e.,
public and private spaces, mixed-use areas). Public spaces and public
institutions are often touted in North American democracies as the means
by which difference is negotiated. These are the places where
individuals and communities meet and mix with one another. Consequently,
access to, and perceptions of, these public spaces are critical to
building a collective sense of social justice and wellbeing. How well
are these spaces meeting the needs of diverse communities? How could
planning for social sustainability and diversity help to make these
spaces better meet a diversity of needs within the urban population?
This special issue is the result of a Standard Research Grant from
the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) to study
"Social Sustainability, Diversity and Public Space in Three
Canadian Cities: Montreal, Toronto, and Calgary." The project
primarily involved racialized communities, and immigrant and refugee
groups in the three cities, focusing on access to and perceptions of a
range of public spaces and services.
Five of the articles in this special issue derive directly from the
SSHRC project (Basu; Gilbert, Viswanathan and Saberi; McGrath and
McGrath; Rahder and McLean; and Wood) and are authored or co-authored by
the five principal project collaborators at York University. Another
three articles (Galanakis; McLean and Rahder; and Ross) explore related
themes. While we are mindful of the fact that Toronto and Ontario get
the most attention, and that ethnic/racial diversity is focused on more
than other aspects of difference, this is largely a product of who we
are and where we are located. We did not set out to be representative,
but rather exploratory. We see ourselves as situated researchers
interested in the experiences and perceptions of those most
systematically excluded from the rewards of urban life. The articles,
however, explore social sustainability from a number of perspectives:
governmental scales and policy; as a public strategy between competing
discourses; as lived and imagined at the everyday; as hegemonic interventions produced by and producing urban form; and even as a basis
for resistance. These contrasting themes highlight the complexity of
social sustainability in urban contexts and the importance of
acknowledging these interdependent linkages.
The first two papers explore issues faced by the organizations
providing services to immigrants and refugees. McGrath and
McGrath's "Funding matters: the maze of settlement funding in
Canada and the impact on refugee services" examines the complex set
of federal/provincial funding arrangements for settlement programs and
services in four provinces: Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and
Quebec. Their analysis focuses on the impact these varied funding models
are having on services for refugees. The result of their analysis is a
call not only for better funding and coordination of services, but for a
much more active role for municipal governments in fostering the
settlement and integration required for social sustainability.
Gilbert, Viswanathan and Saberi's "Marginalized expertise
of community organizations in Quebec's search for
interculturalism" reflects some similar themes. Focusing on the
public debates engendered by the Bouchard-Taylor Commission, the authors
argue that local community organizations--those on the frontlines of
immigrant hospitality and integration--were systematically marginalised
in the work of the Commission. When coupled with an overall lack of
provincial leadership and inadequate funding, this marginalization devalues, at the same time that it demands more of, these frontline organizations.
The next three papers delve more deeply into the experiences and
perceptions of immigrants, refugees and others marginalized by
race/ethnicity and class. Basu's "In Search of Nimmathi for
social sustainability? Imagining, building, and negotiating spaces of
peace in Toronto's diverse neighbourhoods" focuses on the
socio-spatial needs of refugees and immigrants who have come from
war-torn countries. The need for a city of peace--nimmathi in Tamil--is
seen as paramount to refugees' ability to safely and securely
settle and participate in social, economic and political life in Canada.
The article explores the everyday barriers refugees face, and argues
that no city can be socially sustainable without peace.
Galanakis' "Intercultural public spaces in multicultural
Toronto" explores the concept of interculturalism as a framework
for facilitating communication between diverse ethno-cultural groups in
urban public space. His examples demonstrate both the barriers and
opportunities experienced in Toronto neighbourhoods when varied
ethno-cultural groups actively organize initiatives in public space. He
argues for more emphasis on public life as a means of realizing our
common ground as well as our differences.
McLean and Rahder's "The exclusionary politics of
creative communities: The case of Kensington Market pedestrian
Sundays" digs into the experience of an inner-city neighbourhood to
examine how efforts to celebrate community can actually exacerbate
conflict. In this case, community activists and artists unintentionally
contributed to the gentrification pressures experienced in the
neighbourhood, undermining the unique and diverse working class
community they were trying to support. More nuanced and inclusive
planning processes are clearly needed.
The final three papers pick up many of the same themes but add
distinct emphases on political citizenship, disability policy, and
feminist environmental justice, respectively. Wood's
"Citizenship in the 'In-Between City" raises questions
about the potential and limitations of political action for residents of
neighbourhoods that are neither typically urban nor typically suburban,
but in-between. She argues that the in-between city is the prevalent
form of new development in Canada and that its lack of material and
social spaces for political engagement contributes to residents'
apparent powerlessness. Without spaces in which to act politically, we
are not citizens.
Ross' "Advancing Ontario's accessibility: A study of
linguistic, discursive, and conceptual barriers" focuses on the
notion of accessibility for all in public space. He examines disability
policy and discourse, arguing that disability is not just a biomedical condition but a social process that affects all of us by shaping our
thinking and our relationships within social and built environments. He
argues for the need to critically engage with disability policy to
change both our attitudes and our actions in order to make our
collective spaces more sustainable and universally accessible for all.
Rahder and McLean's "Other ways of knowing your place:
Immigrant women's experience of public space in Toronto"
explores the value of a feminist environmental justice framework for
understanding gendered experiences and perceptions of urban public
space. This article shares the voices of immigrant women who are
navigating the uneven social and spatial terrain of the city. Women
describe the barriers they face, but also reveal the active ways in
which they are shaping the city and creating more equitable and
sustainable urban communities.
Taken together, the eight articles in this special issue show that
social sustainability in Canadian cities involves emotional attachments
to place, positive interactions at the local scale, an active movement
for peace and equity among different social and ethnic communities, and
the existence of the infrastructure that enables and nourishes all of
the above. While significant variations in conditions and experiences
exist from one city to another, all levels of government, including city
planners and social policymakers, need to provide much better structures
and supports for the inclusion of all in public spaces and institutions
in order for social sustainability to thrive.
Special Guest Editors
Barbara Rahder
Ranu Basu
Liette Gilbert
Susan McGrath
Patricia Wood
York University, Toronto
