| dc.description.abstract | As immigrants choose to reside within the suburbs and the city
undergoes rapid geographical change, Toronto’s ethnic enclaves are
facing significant transformation in terms of their neighbourhood
demographics, economic conditions and function. The Gerrard
Bazaar is a prime example of an ethnic retail strip that is struggling
with a changing identity and day-to-day role, as the South Asian
population gradually reduces within the area, while young, non-South
Asian families continue to move in. Once a thriving Indo-Pakistani
retail destination, which began from a modest movie theatre, the
ethnic enclave has witnessed significant economic decline leading
to fluctuating levels of urban vacancy. Among the many South Asian
shops, there lies an increasing presence of mainstream coffee shops
and specialty stores that have replaced declining South Asian retail
enterprises over time. Various social and business organizations are
also situated along the strip, yet a significant number of their efforts
to regenerate the enclave, operate in an isolated manner. There also
remains a cultural divide within the area as well as a general lack of
solidarity among the merchants and organizations within the bazaar.
This thesis suggests that the key to reviving the Bazaar as well as other
declining ethnic enclaves, lies in promoting new networks of “cultural
exchange” in which architecture and urban design can be a facilitator
of new interactions and symbiotic relationships among different
organizations and individuals. It comprises of a demographic, historic,
architectural and spatial analysis as well as in-depth human research
that studies how visitors and inhabitants of the Gerrard Bazaar perceive
the ethnic enclave, and what culture means to them. These discovered studies and personal insights influence the design process and are
meant to serve as a new technique by which one can study the notion
of culture and how it informs architecture and urban interventions.
Thus, the focus of thesis is on the method by which architecture and
design is produced, in response to the lack of cultural exchange.
The way in which this method translates research into design, is by
the formulation of a manual of “design strategies” that serves as a
template for the design intervention. This manual is applied to three
different sites within the Gerrard Bazaar, for three types of unique
design proposals - A re-activated plaza, an adaptively re-used square
and a re-imagined senior’s residential complex. These proposals are not
meant to “freeze” the changes that are taking place within the Gerrard
Bazaar, but rather, respond to the gentrification in a positive manner
and acknowledge the demographic trend that is transpiring within the
neighbourhood.
It is envisioned that these new interventions would act as catalysts
in fostering a new sense of community and revitalizing the day-
to-day life of the neighbourhood. In addition, they would serve to
optimize the existing functions and events of the ethnic enclave and
act as anchor points along the strip. Moreover, the presence of these
interventions and the changes that they bring, are meant to help the
bazaar pave the path to a new identity where its cultural heritage is
shared and promoted, yet its demographic and cultural transition are
acknowledged and integrated. | en |
