Download the article in PDF to read it.
Download
Appendices
Acknowledgements
The research was generously supported by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Development Grant, a Royal Architectural Institute of Canada Foundation Research Grant, and a University of Calgary Transdisciplinary Scholarship Connector Grant.
Biographical notes
Dr. Henry Tsang is an architect, associate professor and the chair of the RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University. He holds degrees in architecture from McGill University and a PhD from the University of Tokyo, awarded as a MEXT Scholar. He is the founding principal of Henry Tsang Architect in Calgary. A Chinese Canadian with global experience across Asia and Canada, his work explores sustainability, health, and culture in the built environment. He has edited major publications, lectured internationally, and received numerous national awards for education, design excellence, leadership, and innovation. His design and research work with Chinatowns earned him the 2023 CBC Calgary Asian Changemaker Award.
Dr. Matt Patterson is an associate professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Calgary. He is an urban sociologist whose research examines the relationship between cities and culture, focusing on how places both generate and are shaped by distinctive cultural practices, products, and institutions. His work includes studies of museum development, the emergence of arts districts, and the economic and social impacts of iconic architectural projects (“starchitecture”). He is currently researching cultural planning and placemaking initiatives in North American Chinatowns. His research has been published in Urban Studies, Urban Affairs Review, City & Community, Poetics, and the American Journal of Cultural Sociology.
Chanel Vinet recently earned her Master of Architecture from Cranbrook Academy of Art and is a Research Assistant at the RAIC Centre for Architecture at Athabasca University. Based in Toronto, her interdisciplinary practice explores the intersections of architecture with art, culture, urbanism, and research through making. Her work focuses on neighbourhood care and resilience, with a particular emphasis on Chinatowns, an interest sparked during her BDes studies at OCAD University. Drawing on her Chinese and French-Canadian background, her work reflects themes of identity, placekeeping, memory, and community. She has exhibited and lectured in Canada and the United States.