About the Analysis

The Cosmopolitan, Multicultural City

As our world recovers from the disruptive shock of the COVID-19 pandemic and returns to a trajectory of globalisation, diasporic communities are once again growing and expanding in countries across the world. In 2020, at the cusp of the pandemic lockdowns, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) estimated “…that there were around 281 million international migrants in the world…[equating] to 3.6% of the global population.”[1] Within this vast exodus of peoples, Chinese overseas migrants represented one of the largest, accounting for 10.7 million people alone.[2] Collectively, the Chinese make up “…the fourth largest population of migrants in the world after India, Mexico and the Russian Federation.”[3] Indeed, when we also account for past migration and their descendants, the Chinas global diaspora numbers over 60 million and is one of the oldest and largest global diaspora communities in the world.[4] Chinese migrants moving to Australia have shown continued growth since the end of the White Australia Policy, with the number of people living in Australia who were born in China rising from 17,601 in 1971 to over 549,000 people in 2021.[5] Today, approximately 1.4 million Australians identify themselves as either Chinese or possessing Chinese ancestry, representing 5.5% of the total population and in Sydney, almost 11% (over 550,000 people) of the Greater Sydney population identified themselves as ‘Chinese,’ representing one of the largest non-Anglo-Saxon diasporas in the city.[6]

Whilst such forms of migration, be they arising from political, social, or economic reasons have occurred throughout the course of human history, these communities have not always been welcomed with open arms. Indeed, the hostility shown to other cultural groups in diasporic settings might be perceived as “…one of mankind’s fundamental needs…to see the world in terms of a crude anthesis between ‘us’ and ‘them’, Civilisation versus barbarism, Christianity versus heathenism, and the Free World versus Communism…”[7] Having historically been faced with suspicion, mistrust, and the threat of violence, migrant diasporas have often formed close knit, ethnic based communities in their adoptive homes. In many ways, Chinatowns stand out as one particular example, having come to embody the unique history of the cities in which they are formed and lived experiences of their diasporas, reflecting what the humanistic geographer Yi-Fu Tuan observes:

“A city does not become historic merely because it has occupied the same site for a long time. Past events make no impact on the present unless they are memorialized…[and] are recognised to be part of an ongoing tradition.”[8]

From the origins as humble immigrant districts, Chinatowns have been instrumental spaces in overcoming social, racial, and economic barriers for diasporic communities to find a sense of belonging and have indisputably come to add to the cultural diversity of what we now celebrate as globally connected, cosmopolitan cities. Whilst the Chinese have not been alone in the establishment of these ethnic based communities – traditionally referred to as ethnic enclaves but increasingly referred to in urban contexts as ethnoburbs or ethnopolis, Chinatowns remain one of the largest, oldest, and most prominent of these diasporic spaces in cities around the world.[9]

Today, these places are a mix of the original communities which they once served, a trope for tourists and other citizens alike to sample ‘cultural difference’ and, also places of uncertainty as social demographics continue to shift and change and communities change with the times. Whilst some have suggested the slow decline of Chinatowns in the age of globalised multiculturalism, others are continuing to work in revitalising, renewing, and repositioning these spaces for the 21st Century.[10] Cities are now “…one infused…by a growing cosmopolitanism, and by an often hybrid cultural mix as well as physical setting which through its ‘spontaneous’ emergence remains a good deal more convincing vis-à-vis notions of multiculturalism.”[11] At the same time, our attempt at understanding Chinatown cannot be simply summarised in terms of the “racialised, cultural and communal essence” but requires, as geographer Kay Anderson points out, an understanding through its “…profound economic, political and ideological embeddedness within the dynamic local and global structures of its broader city context.”[12] Put another way, the essentialised distillation of culture into stereotypes perpetuated through the apparatus of imperialism and colonialism, exposed in Edward Said’s seminal work Orientalism (1979), is neither sufficient nor accurate a depiction of what Chinatown was, is, or can be, particularly in our current age.[13] Acknowledging the complexity of engaging within this space, the principle aim of this research work is to begin examining how architects, designers and urbanists alike, can work with this rich fabric of a culturally specific history to a community as these spaces undergo renewal and change, ensuring that the significance and history of a place is not lost as these communities change and a new generation moves into these neighbourhoods.  

It will not be too surprising to note that to undertake a full-scale enquiry into the role multiculturalism plays in shaping our cities and architecture would be a mammoth task far greater than what this single work can achieve. This research therefore does not seek to conduct such a broad enquiry, but rather, seeks to use Chinatown as a vehicle to begin unravelling how the development of traditionally ethic-based diasporic spaces were formed, are constructed and the lessons these spaces have for our cities moving into the future. This is undertaken through the subsequent chapters under three principal sections – contextualising the history of Chinatown, unpackaging the symbols of Chinatown’s spatial configuration and finally, synthesising these into lessons for designing with cultural diversity in mind.

Contextualising | To begin unravelling the story of Chinatown, this paper first returns to the idea of ‘otherness’ in culture, acknowledging that the concept of the ‘Oriental’ as Said ultimately places it, is in the age old social-political bifurcation of ‘East’ and ‘West’ societies in the European tradition. By following the evolving perceptions of this cultural divide, we begin to see three overarching ages which have come to shape contemporary Chinese diasporas – an era of exoticism, an age of fear and the globalised world of cultural diversity. In parallel to this historical contextualisation, two conversations with leading figures in the revitalisation of Sydney’s Chinatown are presented, exploring their understanding of Chinatown’s past, how it has shaped these spaces today, and what they see as the future role of diasporic community spaces in the era of globalised multiculturalism.

 Symbolising | Following the examination of the socio-cultural history of the Chinese diaspora, Chapter 4 turns toward the physical spaces of Chinatown and their significance to these communities. Noting that a commonality across Chinatowns around the world are the use of motifs, colours and built forms reminiscent of a ‘traditional’ conception of Chinese architecture. Whilst we may easily deride and dismiss these architectural forms as being pastiche and post-modern in their expression, of which some are, their stylistic elements are potent symbolic reminders of particular cultures and communities. By examining their ‘essentialised’ formulation, their origins and their changing purpose through unpackaging their physical construct and symbolic meaning, using Kevin Lynch’s five elements of the city image and Venturi Scott Brown’s notions of building and meaning, this chapter seeks to interrogate the power and significance these architectures have been associated with over the course of Chinatowns development and change.

 Synthesising | Having traced the thread of Chinatown’s development through its historic, social, cultural, political, and physical conceptions, the final Chapter – Toward a Multicultural Architecture draws a summary of lessons from the preceding chapters. In acknowledging that our cities will only continue to grow with migration and our urban centres will become increasingly culturally diverse, the goal of this chapter is to highlight the common threads and attributes which have contributed to the success of these cultural enclaves which provide a sense of belonging and community to synthesize a broad design guideline with two broad aspects: to aid in the future urban renewal and conservation of areas whilst minimising the loss of an area’s unique character, and, to assist in guiding key ideas for the design of new public spaces to meet specific cultural and community needs. Whilst this report focuses principally on Chinatowns as one form of ethnic diaspora, it is hoped that the ideas articulated here can begin to scratch the surface of a much broader project around the future of multiculturalism and how architecture, public space and design can facilitate the creation of better and more inclusive spaces for the full spectrum of communities who live, work and call cities their home. 

Fascination, Fear and Fetish: A Brief History of Orientalism

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Chinatown Deconstructed

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A Policy Cross-Section

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Toward a Multicultural Architecture

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