Subdivided : Building Inclusion in the Global City

The City of Toronto's webpage on Diversity opens with:

“Toronto, with a population of 2.79 million people (5.5 million in the GTA – Greater Toronto Area) is heralded as one of the most multicultural cities in the world and is ranked as the safest large metropolitan area in North America by Places Rated Almanac”.

City of Toronto's motto is "Diversity Our Strength".

What does this mean for a city that has a larger proportion of foreign residents than any other global metropolis? How does this "hyper-diversity" play out in terms of living conditions, education, employment, health, and integration and inclusion into the City itself for children, youth, adults and seniors. Studies have reported that there is a widening socio-economic divide producing worrisome divisions amongst Torontonians, old and new.

Our politicians are struggling to manage a social housing crisis, implement poverty and crime reduction strategies, provide fair and equitable transit, spur small business development, ensure adequate health care, education and training, and avoid tax increases while dealing with serious infrastructure and public works needs as our City ages. Well-meaning reports pile up while recommendations rarely get fully implemented.

Take a look at a sampling of reports found in the Toronto Reference Library's Toronto Collection:

Academics and non-profit groups also weigh in on immigrant experiences, underlying social and medical problems, the economic divide as well as urban planning challenges in a city-region that is experiencing skyrocketing real estate values and a population increase.

John Lorinc and Jay Pitters have pulled together a unique group of activists, academics, and journalists to comment on current social and cultural issues in Subdivided : City-Building in an Age of Hyper-Diversity. Every chapter is personal. Every chapter reflects experiences and insights shaped by individual circumstances. Every chapter provides a lens that allows us to see things just a little differently in ways we may not have seen before.