TYLER MAY DRAFT: THE HISTORY OF TORONTO'S GENTRIFICATION

TYLER MAY DRAFT: THE HISTORY OF TORONTO'S GENTRIFICATION

The evolution of gentrification within Toronto

The practice of Gentrification is common to large metropolitan cities, defined as the processes of urban change by which low income residential neighborhoods are occupied and encroached upon by private companies which sell once disinvested lands to middle class buyers (Lees, 2008). Gentrification follows processes of neoliberal policy, by which “redevelopment” or, economic deregulatory strategies privatize formerly state-owned property (Ganti, 2014). In the case of Toronto, gentrification follows the path of market rule, where large development companies acquire government owned public housing complexes to generate profit. Redevelopment projects are framed using race, by which inequalities naturalized within Toronto create white saviorism notions to justify the upper-middle class transformations (Bowen, 2007). Thus, once disinvested, marginalized communities face displacement and exploitation as Toronto’s deregulated housing markets continue to prosper off low income communities.

This report seeks to establish the chronological processes of gentrification within Toronto that seek to acquire low income communities to generate revenue. I seek to explore how gentrification is dichotomous to “redevelopment”, which requires further developments to Canada’s National Housing Strategy to dismantle exploitative practices.

In conclusion, the development of Urban Renewal follows a historical, race based policy which seeks to separate low income areas from wealthier populations. Gentrification, which started on the basis of building policy and structure, developed into slum clearance and renewal policy which seeked to evict low income residents from wealthy land. These antics have continued into the realm of modern redevelopment strategies which currently seek to exploit and make profit from low income communities by attracting wealthier residents. In order to reduce the impacts of gentrification, the National Housing Strategy requires new development of Urban policies which seek to dismantle exploitative redevelopment strategies, replacing them with equitable reinvestment plans.

References:

Bowen, A. (2007). Urban spaces of racialization: White ethnicity and gentrification in Toronto. ProQuest. https://www.proquest.com/docview/304763350?sourcetype=Dissertations%20&%20Theses
Brushett, K. T. (2001). Blots on the Face of the City: The Po iitics of Slum Housing and Urban Renewal in Toronto, 1940-1970. Collections Canada. https://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp05/NQ63408.pdf
City of Toronto . (2016b). Neighbourhood Profile Data. Toronto . https://www.toronto.ca/city-government/data-research-maps/neighbourhoods-communities/neighbourhood-profiles/find-your-neighbourhood/neighbourhood-profile-detail/?id=NeighbourhoodProfiles-CityofToronto/Snapshot110&title=Neighbourhood%20Profile%20Data#type=filtered&filter=Select+a+Neighbourhood&value=Regent%20Park%20(72)
Ganti, T. (2014). Neoliberalism. Annual Reviews. https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-anthro-092412-155528
James, R. K. (2010). From ‘slum clearance’ to ‘revitalisation’: planning, expertise and moral regulation in Toronto’s Regent Park. tandfonline. https://www-tandfonline-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/doi/pdf/10.1080/02665430903421742?needAccess=true
Lees, L. (2008). Gentrification. Scholars Portal Books. https://books-scholarsportal-info.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/en/read?id=/ebooks/ebooks4/taylorandfrancis4/2018-06-04/9/9781135930257
Hulchanski , D. J. (2006). THE THREE CITIES WITHIN TORONTO. Cities Centre, University of Toronto. http://3cities.neighbourhoodchange.ca/wp-content/themes/3-Cities/pdfs/three-cities-in-toronto.pdf

Tyler May

Omeka

University of Toronto

February 23, 2024

Tyler May

Omeka Neatline

English

Gentrification