Short description:

Blending rich historical research with sharp analysis, this book uncovers the interplay of race, urban planning ideologies, and social equity, shedding light on how Chinatowns navigate resilience and reinvention amid shifting urban paradigms. This book invites readers to rethink the meaning of place, heritage, and equity in the urban fabric.

Long description:

American Chinatowns: Race, Identity, and Postwar Urban Redevelopment offers a captivating exploration of the vibrant yet contested landscapes of Chinatowns across the United States.

Through a critical and nuanced lens, Li examines how postwar urban redevelopment, racial dynamics, and identity politics have profoundly transformed these iconic neighborhoods. Blending rich historical research with sharp analysis, this book uncovers the interplay of race, urban planning ideologies, and social equity, shedding light on how Chinatowns navigate resilience and reinvention amid shifting urban paradigms. Li?s work highlights the tension between cultural preservation and modernization, exploring the built environment alongside community-driven spatial activism to reveal how these urban spaces persist as sites of resistance, identity, and transformation. American Chinatowns is a compelling study of cultural landscape, urban justice, and the politics of city-making.

This book is essential reading for scholars, urbanists, and anyone intrigued by the intersection of race, identity, and the evolving narratives of America?s cities. This book invites readers to rethink the meaning of place, heritage, and equity in the urban fabric.

Table of Contents:

Introduction 

Part I

Land-Use Changes and the Politics of Differences

1. Housing and Contested Territory in San Francisco?s Chinatown 

2. ?Urban Renewal Comes to Chinatown with Ease??: The Case of Chicago?s Chinatown 

3. Redefining Urban Production Spaces in New York?s Chinatown

Part II

Reinventing Neighborhood: Cultural Identity and Landscape Changes  

4. Historic Preservation and the Politics of Identity in San Francisco?s Chinatown 

5. Landscape Imagery and Community Building in Chicago?s Chinatown 

6. Contested Ground of New York?s Chinatown Amid Global Shifts 

Conclusions