Suburban place-making: Ethnic retailing, social infrastructure and migrant well-being
Project Lead(s)
Team Members
Sandeep Agrawal, Rupa Banerjee, Jérémie Molho, Melissa Kelly
Sub-theme
Placemaking and relationship formation
Through studying and redesigning public spaces and social infrastructure, the sub-theme 'Placemaking and relationship formation' will enhance our understanding of building better places that foster friendship and relationship within communities, as well as between Indigenous people and the newcomer population.
Objective
This project focuses on creating better places and infrastructure to ensure a better quality of life and sense of belonging for migrants.
Research question(s)
- What are the spatial practices and agency of immigrants through suburban place-making?
- How can we develop frameworks to describe how immigrants make meaningful places and build social infrastructure in various suburban contexts?
- What is an equitable and inclusive process to engage immigrant communities?
- How to combat socio-spatial segregation and injustice inherent in the representation of suburban space?
Methodology
The project will use mixed methods including quantitative analysis of census data to map out both emerging immigrant suburbs and shrinking communities in the contexts of large, medium and small-sized cities to understand the overall population growth trends and immigrant/refugee population proportions. Interviews will be conducted with migrants, community stakeholders, and municipal officials. Case studies from Ontario and Alberta will be selected for comparisons based on four typologies: growth cities, shrinking cities, university towns, and refugee resettlement designations to reveal the nuances and complexity of place-making outcomes. Visual methods such as photovoice, and digital storytelling will be employed to document migrants’ place-making efforts and lived experiences.
Status
The project is currently in progress.
Expected completion: December 2026
Key words
Ethnic retailing; migrant well-being; place-making; social infrastructure; suburban place-making
