{"id":3575,"date":"2013-12-18T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2013-12-18T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/?p=3575"},"modified":"2013-12-18T01:30:59","modified_gmt":"2013-12-18T05:30:59","slug":"class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/","title":{"rendered":"Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh’s Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities"},"content":{"rendered":"

A city is more than the towering skyscrapers of its business district, more than its landmarks, a city \u2013 in particular one that has attained or aspires to global city status as Toronto has, and as other Canadian cities are aspiring too \u2013 is a complex mix of people: of different ethnicities and social classes.\u00a0 These people do not experience the city the same way \u2013 what can be prosperity to higher income earners can be pricing out to those with lower (or even middle) incomes.<\/p>\n

It is essential to understand all the components of a city \u2013 the different people from different backgrounds \u2013 to gain a true understanding of the social and economic dynamics and be able to craft policies accordingly.<\/p>\n

Sudhir Venkatesh, professor of sociology at Columbia University and author of Gang Leader for a Day<\/i>, provides a rich illustration of New York City\u2019s underground economy – and its (at times overlapping) interaction with different social classes and ethnicities \u2013 in his recent book, Floating City<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0 Overall, this book provides a thorough illustration of the social and economic dynamics in a rapidly changing \u2013 and gentrifying \u2013 global city.<\/p>\n

The author admits that this book is not an academic work, but rather more of a memoir of his experiences researching the underground economy of drugs and prostitution as part of his sociological work with Columbia University.\u00a0 Nonetheless, the emphasis on story-telling provides a valuable illustration of the dynamics across different social class and racial groups and their interaction with the underground economy in New York City.\u00a0 This provides a human face \u2013 a texture and depth to the lives of those evading the law, including personal and social struggles \u2013 not captured in tables of statistics.<\/p>\n

Dissemination of information \u2013 to policy-makers and the general public \u2013 should be a priority of academia and telling a good story.\u00a0 Providing a human face is an important component of this.<\/p>\n

Venkatesh highlights that while some have the skill to \u201cfloat\u201d among different social-classes and ethnicities the reality for many \u2013 in particular immigrants and non-whites \u2013 is self-reinforcing cycles of deprivation.\u00a0 Venkatesh writes of his own conceptual struggle:<\/p>\n

“First was a vision of global New York as an unrestricted field of opportunity where even the low income immigrant could climb the latter and experience a better life\u2026 The second was global New York as a ruthlessly hierarchical town with great social benefits for the victors and potentially devastating consequences for the losers.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Thus, global New York was a place of opportunity but also of deep structural inequality and entrenched poverty.<\/p>\n

The author highlights the plight of many non-European immigrants, how integration is difficult if not impossible as they are unable to \u201cjust shorten their names and lose their accents.\u201d\u00a0 Many are consigned to low paying service sector jobs, such as cab driving, cleaning, and being nannies.<\/p>\n

A further insight from Venkatesh, on the reality for many immigrants and minority groups, was that many of them \u201chad limited relations with people outside their social class and ethnic group.\u201d \u00a0It is notable that a recent article in the American Sociological Review<\/a> by Seok-Woo Kown, Colleen Helfin, and Martin Ruef cited quantitative analysis which showed that while social capital \u2013 factors such as membership in voluntary organizations, strength of local social networks, and trust \u2013 were conducive to entrepreneurship, these benefits were less available to immigrants and minority groups for whom social isolation \u2013 lack of networks outside their cultural groups \u2013 was too often a reality.<\/p>\n

A summary and analysis of this article was provided by Richard Florida in The Atlantic Cities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

This creates the spectre \u2013 not just in New York City but in other North American cities \u2013 of the creation of a new underclass, what Venkatesh terms \u201cthe long-term disenfranchised\u201d consisting in large part of immigrants and visible minorities.<\/p>\n

For many, the underground or illegal economy \u2013 whether it is the drug or sex trade cited by Venkatesh, or even something milder like working for a service sector employer and being paid off-the-books to avoid work-permit issues \u2013 is the only means of survival.<\/p>\n

To understand our cities, we need to understand the different dimensions, the experiences of different social classes and ethnic\/cultural groups, and understand the causes of illegal activity rather than resorting to simplistic \u201ctough on crime\u201d policies that are either ineffective or worsen the problems of social marginalization and exclusion.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s largest city, Toronto, is rapidly growing and changing, it is an emerging global city.\u00a0 The plight of the poor, of immigrants who have found economic and social integration difficult if not impossible, and of the underground economy, are part of understanding the true dynamics of the changes Toronto is experiencing.\u00a0 These are factors to consider\u00a0in\u00a0other Canadian cities as well – such as Vancouver and Calgary for example –\u00a0which are rapidly growing, absorbing significant numbers of newcomers, and where factors such as competitive labour\u00a0 markets, inability to get qualifications recognized, and rising housing costs can\u00a0hinder social inclusion. In Winnipeg, there is a significant urban First Nations population <\/a>which has experienced long term structural poverty.<\/p>\n

Global cities such as London and New York are centres of finance and commerce, but also very unequal places, where the poor \u2013 and many in the middle-class as well \u2013 are priced out with rising property values \u2013 it was this concern that fuelled the ultimately successful mayoral campaign of Bill deBlasio in New York City<\/a>.<\/p>\n

With Toronto as an emerging global city,\u00a0an important consideration is encouraging an equitable model of economic growth, where the poor and middle-class are not left behind.\u00a0 For cities throughout North America, it is important to consider policy making in the context of differential impacts on different sectors of society.<\/p>\n

Venkatesh\u2019s book \u2013 and research \u2013 are valuable in gaining this holistic understanding of cities, including the dynamics in rapidly changing global cities such as New York.\u00a0 It could also provide a basis for an inquiry on emerging global cities such as Toronto, and cities experiencing significant growth and change such as Vancouver and Calgary.<\/p>\n

<\/em><\/em>Hassan Arif (@hassannb<\/a>) is a PhD candidate in Sociology at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton where he is specializing in urban sociology and local government. He is also a columnist, having published for the Telegraph Journal in Saint John, the Daily Gleaner in Fredericton, as well as the Huffington Post, and Sustainable Cities Collective. He has also contributed to Insight articles for the University of Toronto\u2019s Martin Prosperity Institute and has published a paper on economic development in smaller jurisdictions for the Canadian-American Center at the University of Maine.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo by Shawn Micallef<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A city is more than the towering skyscrapers of its business district, more than its landmarks, a city \u2013 in particular one that has attained or aspires to global city status as Toronto has, and as other Canadian cities are aspiring too \u2013 is a complex mix of people: of different ethnicities and social classes.\u00a0Continue reading “Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh’s Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8096,"featured_media":3587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[411,408],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-civic-engagement","category-community"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nClass, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh's Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities - Spacing National<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh's Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities - Spacing National\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A city is more than the towering skyscrapers of its business district, more than its landmarks, a city \u2013 in particular one that has attained or aspires to global city status as Toronto has, and as other Canadian cities are aspiring too \u2013 is a complex mix of people: of different ethnicities and social classes.\u00a0Continue reading "Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh’s Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Spacing National\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arif.h9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-12-18T11:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/IMG_8260.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"427\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hassan Arif\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@HassanNB\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Spacing\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Hassan Arif\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/\",\"name\":\"Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh's Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities - Spacing National\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/IMG_8260.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-12-18T11:00:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/2d686ea17c103b08f156ba0f70a72fcd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/IMG_8260.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/IMG_8260.jpg\",\"width\":640,\"height\":427},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh’s Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/\",\"name\":\"Spacing National\",\"description\":\"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Architecture, Urban Deisgn, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/2d686ea17c103b08f156ba0f70a72fcd\",\"name\":\"Hassan Arif\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a0f3269927611277ba843b74d358593?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a0f3269927611277ba843b74d358593?s=96&d=blank&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Hassan Arif\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arif.h9\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/HassanNB\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/author\/hassanarif\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh's Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities - Spacing National","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh's Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities - Spacing National","og_description":"A city is more than the towering skyscrapers of its business district, more than its landmarks, a city \u2013 in particular one that has attained or aspires to global city status as Toronto has, and as other Canadian cities are aspiring too \u2013 is a complex mix of people: of different ethnicities and social classes.\u00a0Continue reading \"Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh’s Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities\"","og_url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/","og_site_name":"Spacing National","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arif.h9","article_published_time":"2013-12-18T11:00:00+00:00","og_image":[{"width":640,"height":427,"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/IMG_8260.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Hassan Arif","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@HassanNB","twitter_site":"@Spacing","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Hassan Arif","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/","name":"Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh's Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities - Spacing National","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/IMG_8260.jpg","datePublished":"2013-12-18T11:00:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/2d686ea17c103b08f156ba0f70a72fcd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/IMG_8260.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/IMG_8260.jpg","width":640,"height":427},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/2013\/12\/18\/class-race-underground-economy-venkateshs-floating-cities-lessons-canadian-cities\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Class, race, & the underground economy \u2014 Venkatesh’s Floating Cities and Lessons for Canadian Cities"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#website","url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/","name":"Spacing National","description":"Canadian Urbanism Uncovered | Architecture, Urban Deisgn, Public Transit, City Hall, Parks, Walking, Bikes, Streetscape, History, Waterfront, Maps, Public Spaces","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/2d686ea17c103b08f156ba0f70a72fcd","name":"Hassan Arif","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a0f3269927611277ba843b74d358593?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7a0f3269927611277ba843b74d358593?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Hassan Arif"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/arif.h9","https:\/\/x.com\/HassanNB"],"url":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/author\/hassanarif\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8096"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3575"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3575\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3589,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3575\/revisions\/3589"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/national\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}