Development needs to reflect new social fabric

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Archiseek / Canada / News / 2008 / July 4

The poor suburbs! For generations, Hollywood and the "snobocracy" have portrayed North American suburbia as so much mass-produced alienation and white-bread conformism. A newer fable, reinforced by lurid news reports in the media, has it that whole swatches of suburbia are infested by violent gangs. Though these visions are obviously at odds with one another, they have nevertheless combined to give rise to a popular notion of suburbia as toxic and inhuman. Seen against this background of long-standing prejudice, the exhibition entitled "Fringe Benefits: Cosmopolitan Dynamics of a Multicultural City," opening at the Design Exchange next Wednesday, promises to be a myth-buster. This show will use photography, video, maps and art to argue that the burgeoning towns and neighbourhoods around downtown Toronto are bustling with cultural and social vitality. Millions of new immigrants are reshaping suburbia to suit themselves, with results that are surprising and often inspiring.

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