Posted Oct 26, 2024, 12:07 AM
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Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 15,616
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Additional background
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I meet regularly with Chinese elders who own some of the buildings in the neighborhood and city officials who are involved in trying to get UNESCO designation. I have an uncle who’s a real estate agent and owns a bunch of the properties. It’s an embedded network of entanglements—there are some deep social connections here, like the Chinese Benevolent Association, which are deeply rooted family clan associations. They’re across North America, so you probably have something in Philly. One of our landlords is the Yee Fung Toy Society of Canada. To this day they meet for five-hour periods in the basement, with 30-40 representatives from five chapters across Canada. It’s completely volunteer-run, and they have principles that they follow. It’s interesting to see, because their purpose is ultimately for the survival of their family clan. There was somewhat of an obsolescence of these purposes during the 1970s and 1980s, when my mother’s generation could move freely beyond the boundaries of Chinatown without feeling as intense of racism. So, there was this period where the Benevolent Associations were perceived as being dormant cultural fixtures, who played a social role for an aging population—playing mahjong and sharing food. But today, the Chinese Benevolent Associations suddenly have taken center stage, as they continue to provide low rental rates in the face of gentrification. And so, we are involved in conversations around how to move ahead with refurbishment of these properties without giving in to private market forces, and how to carry out some of the decommodification of land that they started many decades ago.
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They own 12 buildings, within maybe a six-block radius. It’s quite a big number. I think what’s also important to learn from these Chinese Benevolent Societies is that those clear principles and that collective management of these spaces have led to their security today, and their ability to say no to the speculation of gentrification. How do we learn from that? What can we as a generation do to make land not available for speculation, or property more communally accessible, for purposes greater than just profiting a landlord or a property management company?
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https://iisforinstitute.icaphila.org/posts/conversation-with-brian-mcbay-and-jesse-mckee-221a
From their annual report:
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221A is collaborating with the Yee Fung Toy Society of Canada to explore a community based cultural hub in Chinatown. After successfully receiving funding from the City of Vancouver, Canada Council for the Arts, Vancity Community Foundation, and the Community Housing Transformation Centre, 221A began collaborating with Tomo Spaces as development consultant and Human Studios as the project architect for the potential multi-storey redevelopment. The Yee Project focuses on low-income housing for seniors and artists, community spaces, and specialized production and presentation spaces. 221A’s goals are to provide affordable space, foster intergenerational exchange, and create a long-term partnership model for community-owned assets.
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https://221a.ca/2024/09/see-221as-2023-24-annual-report/
Last edited by jollyburger; Oct 26, 2024 at 1:43 AM.
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