By Roger Keil

Arizona State University scholar Wei Li popularized the notion of an ethnoburb in her research on the St.Gabriel Valley in Southern California in the 1990s. The concept has since become a mainstay of (sub)urban research in the United States and to some degree in Canada. Recent Master in Environmental Studies (MES)  graduate Nishanthan Balasubramaniam has now applied the concept in an innovative fashion to the study of Markham’s current socio-spatiality. The rapidly growing city just north of metropolitan Toronto has long been the destination of new immigrants from East and South Asia. Balasubramaniam, who was associated with the MCRI on Global Suburbanisms examines in his study the multi-ethnic character of the ethnoburb’s social, economic and spatial structure. The researcher found that the status as an ‘ethnoburb’ may involve the presence of more than one ethnic group. While many positive aspects of the formation of an ethnoburb are subject of the study under the supervision of Professor Liette Gilbert, Balasubramaniam also points to challenges around housing, diversity and planning that he argues need to be addressed. Read more here.