| Sumario: | Recent development patterns of Chinese commercial activity in the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area of Canada is explored. The past 15 years have seen new development in Toronto that has prompted both the proliferation of ethnic Chinese businesses and major changes in business structure. Businesses that were traditionally predominant, such as restaurants and grocery stores, have declined substantially in proportion, but businesses that offer consumer services of various kinds have expanded greatly. This indicates that the Chinese community has been building a more complete and self-sufficient ethnic economy. Furthermore, most of the new development has taken place in the suburbs, outside the three central-city Chinatowns. Thus, the spatial organization of Chinese commercial activity has become multinuclear, and the rapid spread of such activity is changing the traditional retail landscape of Toronto. Most revolutionary of all, perhaps, there has been a shift in focus from unplanned retail strips to planned shopping centers, and a change of ownership from leasing retail space to selling store units.
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