A Study of the Role of Small Ethnic Retail Grocery Stores in Urban Renewal in a Social Housing Project, Toronto, Canada

Abstract

Urban renewal often drives away the original residents, replacing them with higher income residents who can afford the new spaces, leading to gentrification. Urban renewal that takes place over many years can create uncertainties for retailers and residents, exacerbating the gentrification process. This qualitative study explored how the urban renewal process in a multi-cultural social housing neighborhood in Toronto (Regent Park) affected the small ethnic retail grocery stores (SERGS) that supplied ethnic foods and items to the ethnic populations living there. Interviews were conducted with ten SERGS store owners/managers and 16 ethnic residents who lived in Regent Park before renewal and were displaced, or who were displaced and returned. The SERGS stated that they provided culturally familiar items and offered a social credit scheme that recognized existing social relationships and allowed low-income residents to afford food and other amenities in a dignified manner and pay later, without penalty or interest. At the same time, the SERGS were unsupported during the renewal, were excluded from the civic planning processes, could not compete for space in the new buildings, and experienced declining sales and loss of business. The residents stated that the SERGS were trusted, provided a valued cultural social spaces for ethnic identity formation, and ethnic food security but they faced many uncertainties about the role of SERGS in a renewed neighborhood. Based on this study, it is recommended that ethnic retailers be recognized for the role they play in formulating ethnic identities and food security in mixed-use mixed-income communities and that they be included in planning processes during urban renewal. Such recognition may enable more former residents to return and lessen the gentrification.

Introduction/Background

Regent Park is the oldest social housing project in North America, built in the 1940s as a social experiment on the east side of Toronto to absorb Second World War returnees and Toronto’s urban poor.¹ It later became attractive to immigrants and working class because of the availability of affordable subsidized housing. By 2005, more than 63 % of Regent Park’s residents spoke a native language that was not English.¹ The diversity in cultures, identities, consumer patterns, incomes, and lifestyles shaped the retail landscape in Regent Park. In 2005, urban renewal began by tearing down the old buildings and displacing the residents for up to 4 years and building new structures in a different configuration than before. This renewal will replace the 2083 rent-geared-to-income units and construct 5400 market units in Regent Park (ibid). Urban renewal is deliberate, intended to bring change to the urban environment and to inject new vitality through planned adjustments of the existing neighborhood to respond to future requirements for urban living and working.² The renewed urban spaces will likely attract a more affluent population to dominate the mixed-use community spaces at the end of the project in 2020.¹ The Toronto municipal government anticipates that the mixed-use/mixed-income development is a better model to improve social mixing or social inclusion in a renewed Regent Park. The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of the rapid changes in Regent Park on the small ethnic retail grocery stores that are major sources of ethnic foods and amenities, and whether these ethnic stores have a future in the renewed and gentrifying Regent Park.

The discussion of gentrification has pervaded critical urban redevelopment discourses and public health.^3,4 Hamnett defined gentrification as “simultaneously a physical, economic, social and cultural phenomenon, commonly involving the invasion by middle class or high-income groups of previously working-class neighbors or multi-occupied ‘twilight areas’ and replacement or displacement of many of the original occupants”(p.3).⁴ Typically, the low-income or working poor people are displaced in gentrifying neighborhoods. Low-income or working-poor residents include individuals or families who spend more than 30 % of their household income on rent and are food insecure.^5,6 In 2007, Statistics Canada classified Regent Park as one of the poorest neighborhoods in Canada, with less than 150 households having annual incomes greater than $30,000.¹ In the renewal of Regent Park, the idea is to mix income levels to end the social isolation of those living at the margins.

The concept of mixed-income housing originates from the Social Isolation Theory.^7,8 The theory posits that residents of high-poverty neighborhoods can be isolated from informal job networks and opportunities, positive role models, mainstream institutions, and patterns of positive behaviors.^8–10 It proposes a “socially mixed” neighborhood that encourages middle class people to buy housing units in declining neighborhoods, and enables the cultivation of networks between original and new residents, thus, creating a “middle-class buffer.”¹⁰ The assumption that a middle class buffer benefits all residents equally in mixed-use, mixed-income community has limitations. It disregards the differential experiences of inequities and exclusions, and the exercise of power ¹¹ does not describe relationships within sub-communities and fails to recognize the limited contact and/or no contact among individuals in mixed-use, mix-income communities based on social and historical factors.¹² Park and Burgess observed that at times, social isolation may be a strategy for groups’ self-preservation. By remaining in closely knit formations, groups preserve and intensify the intimacies and solidarity within those seemingly isolated neighborhoods.¹²

The Regent Park revitalization was started in 2005 and is expected to wind up by the year 2020. An anticipated large stock of market rent housing and condos will supersede the proposed number of rent-geared-to-income units. At present, we do not know the extent to which these changes affect relationships in the mixed-use, mixed-income community. However, existing studies show that gentrification alters the socio-cultural and economic composition of neighborhoods through displacement and replacement of low-income residents with new high-income residents.^5,13–15 The surging number of affluent groups tends to mount additional pressure on existing social spaces and indirectly increases costs of commercial and other available spaces, thereby affecting the existing spaces that the original low-income residents depended on.^13,14,16,17 “Social spaces” are the material amenities associated with particular places in the public domain (services and goods provided by retailers, housing, and social services) and the social, symbolic, and affective dynamics that also constitute those places.¹⁴ Social spaces such as ethnic stores, restaurants, cafes, and bars tend to change faster in gentrifying neighborhoods, to reflect changes in socio-economic class and ethnicities since they are significant spaces where amenities and collective use value for ethnic populations.¹⁴ Further, the influx of new affluent residents may lead to social and economic disparities that facilitate the reduction of spaces where low-income residents feel comfortable, and destabilize existing informal relations crucial for social capital development and healthy living.^11,14 Further, a disruption of informal processes that guarantee access to basic amenities, such as food, affects the low-income groups disproportionally because they have less resources to go elsewhere.¹⁴

Another study found that people who live in a locality and who identify as “ethnic,” tend to identify with ethnic businesses that supply them with ethnic amenities.¹⁸ The significance of robust ethnic social space in a neighborhood is, therefore, critical in shaping neighborhood identities and sense of belonging and in shaping consumption and civic culture in those spaces.^19,20

Gentrification generally is accompanied by uncertainties, powerlessness, and exclusion, leading to health disparities for low-income residents of gentrifying urban neighborhoods.^3,13 These issues are of public health concern, requiring multiple responses from all stakeholders. For instance, indicators of physical and mental health, such as social relations, food security, housing, and identity, are affected by social space dynamics.¹⁸ Moreover, the differential experiences of the middle class, homeowners, the working poor, and the unemployed in revitalized neighborhoods are contested in these same spaces.¹⁴ Concerns of marginality and exclusion then become important because developers and scholars are focused on outcomes and often neglect a resident’s experiences as gentrification progresses.^3,11

Methodology

This was a qualitative and exploratory research design guided by interpretive research traditions. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted after receiving voluntary written informed consent from participants.

Recruitment

A purposive sampling method guided the recruitment of participants. Flyers and information sheets were hand-delivered to store owners/managers. Ten store owners/managers were recruited because their stores carried “ethnic” food and other cultural items and were located at the boundaries of Regent Park. Residents were recruited if they were 18–65 years, identified as a member of an ethnic community, and had experience of living in Regent before, during, or after revitalization. Regent Park Community Health Centre, the Food Centre, and TD Centre for Learning provided information about the study to residents, 16 of whom contacted lead investigator by telephone indicating interest in participating.

Participants

The ethnic composition of small ethnic retail grocery store (SERGS) owners/managers interviewed included Pakistani (2), Ethiopian (3), Bangladeshi (3), Sri Lankan (1), and Somali (1) (N = 10). There were 16 ethnic residents who were interviewed, who self-identified as members of non-dominant groups and lived in Regent Park before renewal, were displaced, or displaced and returned. The ethnicity of participants were as follows: Bangladeshi (3), Sri Lankan (4), Pakistani (2), Ethiopian (2), Somali (2), Jamaican (1), Ghanaian (1), and an “expert” informant resident formerly employed by the Daniel’s Corporation—the developer (1) (N = 16).

The resident participants had lived in Regent Park between 4 and 13 years and had various experiences with the renewal process. Annual household income ranged from CAD $12,000–42,000 with family size ranging from two to eight persons per household. The average monthly food expenditures reported were between $300 and 1200. Ten of the participants were on social assistance. Three of the participants were male heads of a household, while 13 participants were female heads of a household (single mothers). Although the study targeted participants from the age group 18–65 years, the actual age range of participants was 25–55 years.

Participants in the stores preferred on-the-spot interviews but declined to be audio recorded. All resident interviews took place at locations in Regent Park. All participants chose to express themselves in English. Interviews were audio recorded, and no incentives were offered. Saturation was reached at the 14th Resident interview. Additional two interviews were used for confirmation/verification.

Data Analysis

The data were reviewed inductively so the themes emerged in an iterative process.²¹ The audio recorded data from resident participants were transcribed by the first author into an excel spread sheet, while noting down initial ideas. The transcription was then read and re-read several times, and recordings listened to several times to ensure accuracy of the transcription. Field notes were also included as part of the data. This repeated reading and listening to audio recordings led to immersion with the data-driven codes were developed. The first author recognized patterns and emergent themes and subthemes that were categorized and named. This process was repeated for thematic analysis of the data from SERGS owners/managers, and the results are presented below.

Ethics approval was secured from the University of Toronto.

Results

Interviews with SERGS Owners/Managers

The data analysis of the SERGS owner/manager interviews generated five major themes. The first theme “social business model” describes the contributions SERGS felt they made to their community.

Social Business Model

One of the key findings in this study was that every store owner/manager kept a large record of debtors and their patterns of payment. This is the social credit or informal credit system that is built on a foundation of strong ethnic and social relations. The social credit system functions as a safety net for the poor residents on government welfare and the working poor. Through existing relations, SERGS were able to replenish their small workforce, making them a local source for employment. This business model operated successfully based on reciprocity and customer loyalty. SERGS became an ethnic and religious symbol for residents, as well as a major anchor for local businesses. One respondent described it as:

I have here a big book with names of those who come to me asking for food and then they pay later. I have to give them even when they have no money. Some come back and pay, others take years. This is what we did back home. (0612ST05)

“I build a good personal connection with the community. In this way, everyone poor or not, maintains their dignity, sustains the family and I am [also] happy too.” (0610ST03)

The SERGS realized that their important roles went unrecognized in the Regent Park renewal process and the following four themes describe the challenges SERG owner/managers said they faced in trying to continue business during the protracted renewal process. As their main clientele had to leave Regent Park, their revenues decreased and created a cascade of problems for their businesses and threatened their future after the renewal.

Unsupported During Renewal

The challenges for the SERGS included a lack of loans from banks or the city to support small businesses during the renewal. Already, SERGS were incurring high utility bills to operate their businesses when sales were low. Low sales were exacerbated by harsh traffic and parking enforcement during peak business hours. Furthermore, SERGS felt challenged due to speculation over increases in rent costs, which discouraged them from considering taking rental places in the new Regent Park. One owner observed:

I have tried to inquire about space there because I wanted to move in there. I was told that I don’t qualify. I was told that they want big names, like Tim Hortons, Valu-Mart or any of those big chain franchises. 0607ST08

Limited Capacity and Competition

The ethnic stores operated in small spaces, so squeezed and stuffed that they were unable to carry bulk ethnic goods. Further, their prices were slightly higher so they were outcompeted by the superstores—FreshCo and No-Frills—that conducted price syndicates. One respondent stated:

The other challenge is the kind of syndicate that FreshCo and No-frills are playing. When FreshCo shows an item with low price, No-Frills will sell to customer at that price if their pricing was up. Some items have 25 cents difference but when sold in bulk, it hurts the small stores. (0612ST05)

Exclusion from Civic Processes

The SERGS felt excluded from the planning and civic processes of the renewal because of language barriers and their peripheral location. Further, they believed that developers favored affluent businesses to meet the needs of the new residents.

The problem is [that,] the developers are not engaging us, the small ethnic retailers in the planning process. We are not being consulted, so we do not know our future in all of these. We would like to make our contributions. (0610ST04)

Declining Sales

The declining sales were attributed to displacement of large-size ethnic families, speculation about the future of SERGS and that the nature of new residents who did not identify with ethnic stores and did not buy ethnic items:

Business is so bad now with a lot of large families moving out. There are more young single people coming in. These young people have urban lifestyle; they don’t cook, [they] buy small amounts like one banana, one onion, one tomato…this is not good for business. (0607ST01)

Interviews with Residents of Regent Park

Residents’ interviews generated five major themes with respect to their relationships with and perceptions about the SERGS.

Trust and Accountability

Residents trusted SERGS as a source of halal foods, a less intimidating place where witnessing the handling of their halal foods happened. In these stores, they heard the narratives and accountability related to the processes of their ethnic items. The relationships were cultivated over time, allowing for negotiation of credit in informal terms, making the stores a very convenient place for shopping in familiar ethno-cultural environments. One resident stated:

These stores provide for us the food we trust and relate with. I trust their Halal meat and chicken… I know who prepares it and where it comes from. (Par030708)

Preserving Ethnic Practices

Residents agreed that SERGS were important ethno-cultural spaces where cultural rituals involving negotiations and friendships were connected to informal business practices. Customers were able to negotiate for social credit using familiar language, and drawing on old bonds enabled the preservation of dignity for the poor and mediated ethnic food security. Their close interactions with familiar ethnic items allowed them to regain meanings, values, traditions, and sense of attachment to these stores as if they were back home. One resident stated:

Those places remind me of home so much…when I have no money I get some food still and pay later. I have a large family, you know. (Par060708)

One resident reiterated the importance of the social credit system as follows:

Our shopkeepers have the same home attitude and if you are broke, they can give you food that you want and you pay later. This is very good so we can keep our faces and live in dignity as poor people (Par080708)

Source of Identity

Residents highlighted the importance of SERGS as a reliable source of halal products, thereby presenting a cultural place where religion and ethnicity intersected to provide convenient shopping. This mediated identity development, learning, and preservation. The shelf items provided texts and experiences with special food ingredients that evoked history and emotions, thereby reaffirming their ethnic identities. One respondent stated:

My children go there too. They start to ask me questions about names of products, and where they come from. I get the opportunity to explain [to them] in my mother tongue. (Par060630)

Food Security with and without SERGs

Some residents in the renewed Regent Park felt very food secure due to emerging food stores, more variety of food products, low cost, and improved customer service. One resident observed as follows:

I see more options. FreshCo is here and is cheap on produces such as rice. I see lots of people coming in this region which is good. It has opened lots of opportunities (Par030606)

Uncertainties with Renewal Process

Some residents expressed uncertainty about the nature of the newcomers to renewed Regent Park as potential cause of increases in costs. Some believed that SERGS actually alienated non-ethnic residents. In addition, Residents indicated that the increasing number of larger food stores could compromise accountability for ethnic items, thus feared the loss of ‘home’ food.

Discussion

This study revealed that before the urban renewal process in Regent Park, SERGS were a valuable avenue for informal social transactions and food security for low-income, multi-ethnic residents. However, during the multi-year renewal process, SERGS faced difficulties, feeling unsupported and excluded from the renewal decision-making processes. With the displacement of ethnic residents, which was perceived to cause declining sales, the ability of the SERGS to remain in business to serve returning multi-ethnic residents was reduced. They had trouble paying bills, keeping enough stock on shelves, being able to afford increasing space costs, competing with big box stores like FresCo, being built in the area, and were uncertain about whether to acquire larger space in the new Regent Park due to speculation over costs.

Before the renewal process, a high proportion of Regent Park residents were on social assistance, or low-income earners.¹ This corresponded with the period when SERGS reported high traffic, large credit records, and frequent visits by ethnic customers. Many residents depended on a social credit system for their ethnic amenities. This model highlights an important informal process, which confirmed the interdependence between SERGS and multi-ethnic residents of Regent Park.²²

Although the ethnic residents of Regent Park were low-income groups, ethnic food insecurity was not in their narratives. It appears that the social credit system mediated ethnic food security. According to residents, a revelation of food insecurity signifies a failure associated with “being unable to provide” food for the family. However, the repeated reference to a social credit scheme suggested that it was the protective mechanism for ethnic food security. Through this system, low-income families were able to access the foods that they needed, when they needed it, and paid later without interest, time limits, or penalty. Respondents discussed food insecurity in the context of high costs of access (transportation), rather than affordability. It also emerged that the residents valued SERGS as a reliable, accountable, and convenient source of their cultural foods.

This study shows that SERGs did play a role in the community beyond provision of food and its ethnic symbolism. However, since the roles of SERGS were not recognized in Regent Park revitalization plan, they have been left out of the renewal process, and there is a big risk that they will not exist in the future. This factor may strengthen the argument that urban renewal tends to eliminate ethnic specialization and drive out ethnic residents from renewed neighborhoods.²³

The importance of the SERGS to the residents was enumerated as providing the space to sustain ethnic identities, where residents were able to socialize in familiar language and cultural environments. This process was found to make the retail experience unique and fulfilling in ways that are not common in large supermarkets.¹⁸ The renewal process disrupted these relationships. Further, the link between ethnic food, ethnic retail grocery stores, and ethnic identity are intricately linked to displacement and health of the ethnic population.⁷ The link between cultural food ways and ethnic identities is cultivated and sustained inside the SERGS through negotiations, cultural dialogues, appraisal, reflections, and struggles for meanings.^7,24 Through engaging the environmental influences to reinforce their own identities, ethnic groups usually resisted the onslaught of ethnic identity assimilation in revitalized neighborhoods.²³ The ethnic stores create important cultural spaces, which enable cultural continuity and evolution, and places where negotiations of gender, culture, religion, kinship, and wellbeing are contested.¹⁸ A recognized role of SERGS is in providing employment and income to residents, which are important social determinants of health.

Given the influx of middle-income people to the new Regent Park, some families not returning, new generic stores and affluent businesses emerging, Regent Park appears to be experiencing gentrification.^8,11,25 With gentrification, there will be loss of special ethnic spaces and symbols that preserve ethnic identity.^14,16,23 Already, ethnic stores have expressed their inability to afford commercial spaces within the renewed Regent Park. The mixed-house mixed-income arrangement does not imply that everyone will have the power to afford amenities from the neighborhood. The Regent Park renewal is reconfiguring the community by excluding and removing important ethnic amenities for new immigrant people of ethnic background. This may serve to widen the social gap, rather than build a socially inclusive community where people can connect with one another, get credit over hard times, get services that are familiar, and get first jobs.

Limitations

This study was conducted in 2012/2013, and the renewal process is still underway, thereby changing conditions further. Future research is needed to explore the ongoing changes in SERGS viability over time. The displacement process diminished ethnic diversity, so it was not possible to recruit from all cultural backgrounds representative of Regent Park residents as they were, before the renewal process. Most of the respondents had low English proficiency, which may have limited the depth of the interactions. The use of a trained interpreter would be appropriate in future research.

Conclusions

This study provides a glimpse into food security and ethnic identity among marginalized ethnic communities during urban renewal. The new Regent Park could create affordable commercial spaces to accommodate the SERGS, which would enhance the diversification of its cultural spaces and be attractive to the returning and new ethnic residents. Although this study argues that SERGS in Regent Park be recognized for their role in food and ethnic security for low-income new immigrants, and that they should be engaged in the urban renewal process, one could make the case that the role of SERGS should be considered in all sites of urban renewal striving for mixed-use mixed-income integrated communities.

While this study recognizes that urban renewal is an inevitable part of urban reinvention, it also recognizes that renewed urban spaces come with new expectations and myths, which often drive away the original residents, replacing them with high-income residents who can afford the new spaces, leading to gentrification. We recognize that gentrification is a complex process that creates uncertainties among service providers and residents of those areas under renewal, in equal proportions. This study set to find out how the gentrification process in Regent Park was affecting the small ethnic retail grocery stores that supplied ethnic foods and items to ethnic population of Regent Park. Ethnic retailers provide important sources of ethnic foods and food security, offer cultural items, and are symbols of valued cultural social spaces for ethnic identity formulation.

Regent Park’s social development plan recognizes the role of accessible and affordable spaces for cultural activities in integrating ethno-cultural communities (p.7).¹ Other organizations, such as the municipal public health department could scale up the monitoring of the processes of gentrification in revitalizing neighborhoods, and where possible, explore the social credit scheme model in discussing ethnic food security for marginalized communities. Further, the valuing of ethnic or social spaces for original residents in revitalizing neighborhoods shows a deliberate attempt to promote access, inclusion, and equity in mixed-use mixed-income communities in any sites experiencing urban renewal.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

Ethics approval was secured from the University of Toronto.