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HOMESCAPES/WARSCAPES SERIES: Asian American Spatial Politics: A Case Study of Neighborhood Change in Post-1965 Los Angeles Chinatown

Urban Chinatowns are experiencing changes that challenge its identity as simply a historic
Chinese ethnic enclave. The oldest Chinatowns in New York, San Francisco, and Los
Angeles, for example, are recognized as historical Chinese American spaces and a home
for more recent low-income ethnic Chinese immigrants and refugees who are diverse in
language and national origin, but still in need of social services. Because of their proximity
to the downtown core and other older neighborhoods experiencing rapid development and
increasing housing costs, Chinatowns are also part of gentrification debates in these cities.
The neighborhood demographic and cultural changes, along with these broader urban
pressures, are not only reshaping the physical and social landscape of Chinatowns, but also
the political landscape as individuals are engaging in various forms of political participation
and organizing to advocate and bring resources for the community in response to the
changes. This presentation will examine these issues through a case study of Los Angeles
Chinatown, specifically highlighting how the neighborhood has been embedded within
urban development and revitalization trends since the 1965 Immigration Act.
Laureen D. Hom is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Planning, Policy & Design at
UC Irvine. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology and Art History from UCLA and an M.P.H. from
Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. Prior to attending UC Irvine, she was
a community-based researcher for health and social service programs targeting Asian American
and immigrant communities in New York City. Laureen’s dissertation research is a historical
ethnography of neighborhood change in post-1965 Los Angeles Chinatown to examine the
process of how revitalization and redevelopment in urban ethnic neighborhoods contribute to
changes in community and local political formations.