The International Examiner has a three-part series on the gentrification of Chinatowns in cities in the Northwest, and Chetanya Robinson has interviewed our very own Duke of Data Andy Yan.
It is well worth a read, as is the International Examiner’s review of “People Power” and the landmark decision of the Vancouver Development Permit Board regarding 105 Keefer, a condominium development proposed within Chinatown.
“Over the last few years, much of Vancouver, B.C.’s Chinatown has mobilized against gentrification, insisting that development and revitalization projects do more to meet the needs of the neighborhood. In November 2017, a swell of neighborhood voices made history by convincing the Vancouver City Development Permit Board to reject the application for a proposed condo project, called 105 Keefer. It was the first time in its history that the Board rejected a project, agreeing with activists that the condo didn’t fit contextually into Chinatown. For many, the 105 Keefer project — which would have been built just feet away from a memorial to Chinese railway workers and veterans, and included no affordable housing — symbolized the ways that housing was being developed in Chinatown with little regard for its needs.”
Andy Yan who is the director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University notes that 40 % of seniors in Chinatown live in poverty, and that the activism against inappropriate development is a ‘microcosm” of what is happening throughout the city.
Andy points out As Vancouver changes and grows, who is the city really for? “All my research is in how do we make a more inclusive city. That’s the core of it.”
Andy also draws the parallel that Chinatown redefined Vancouver as one of the few cities in North America that is not car dependent, a direction that was kindled with Chinatown and Strathcona’s rejection of the freeway through it in the early 1970’s. In talking about Chinatown and the trend to “placemake” to attract people and businesses, Andy points out that is already done. In talking about “this idea of place-making — which is the obsession for urbanists, urban planners, urban designers — isn’t relevant in Chinatown, because the place has already been made. And I think that what’s actually key, and requires the changes in development”.
Unlike other areas that might require a business development rethink of industries and opportunities, the existing population of Chinatown and their future is similar to what other areas of Vancouver are reflecting. With 50% of Chinatown’s population below the poverty level the importance of connection with economic opportunities and fostering neighbourhood is important.
As Andy Yan observes I think it goes in towards culture. Like, how does Chinatown fit in towards how the city and region have changed, particularly with the different types of Chinese immigration? The original Chinese population that founded Vancouver’s Chinatown were working, middle class folks at the most, compared to really the sizable class changes of those who are now coming here as new immigrants. But then also those who are second and third generations. How do they feel connected or not connected with the neighborhood?
The importance of thinking of Chinatown as a people based place with strong social infrastructure is something that Andy Yan finds striking about Chinatown.
“Whether it’s social, cultural institutions, clubs – it means really memories – the idea of history. The fact that this is not an instant neighborhood, it’s actually one that has a patina of cultural practice, of cultural institutions, which has kind of created this neighborhood, unlike many, many other neighborhoods in the city of Vancouver.”
Andy Yan notes that while Chinatown may be lacking in financial capital, in terms of cultural and social capital “this is one of the richest neighbourhoods in the city of Vancouver”. And what happens in one of the most historic and culturally rich neighbourhoods of the city could be a blueprint for “building bridges and extending the table” for socially responsible development that fits into the desires and needs of the community.
You can read the whole interview here.
Images: SFU & New1130
Not developing there helps whom?
Concentrating poverty in the DTES is good why ?
Clearly we need far FAR more social housing or affordable rental in ALL new condo buildings, say 33%, within a culturally appropriate context. That mandate is missing in Vancouver and one of the core reasons why Vision Vancouver disappeared.
We need more group homes incl. mental facilities in the DTES as some folks are incapable of living by themselves and need assistance, some minor and some a lot. Only more money, BOTH public and private, will help here. As such private money ought to be made very welcome in DTES and not shunned. As such, was the rejection of 105 Keefer really a victory, or a setback ?
I once lived in Strathcona for two years. There was and still is a sharp distinction between Chinatown and the DTES. They are adjacent, but not the same. Back in the early 80s I was able to walk the length of Pender St. at midnight and be safe. Crack cocaine changed all that, and the invisible barrier between Hastings and Pender came down. Today the social and addiction issues are a lot more powerful. But that does not negate Chinatown’s very unique history and urbanism.
And I have found that the new towers on Main Street are filled, when filled, with [deleted per Comment Policy] hipsters who care nothing about Asian culture of any type.
They come downstairs for the vegan pizza at the Virtuous Pie on Main at Keefer and then go back up to their safe hip aerie.
It has been deliberately cleaved in two.
And the Rennie Block on the north side of the Unit block of Pender doesn’t help.
But then the Chinese Cultural Centre was warned by a major [deleted per Comment Policy] backer that they were doing it wrong and were going to be financially unviable. And so it has turned out to be.
The frontage stores have all failed. The upstairs is not used as much as they had foreseen.
See the reports of Chicago, Montreal’s LaGauchetiere and Clark, Toronto’s Elizabeth Street, San Francisco’s Grant Street desert, Washington D.C. invisible Chinatown etc. etc.