Research on house prices and housing markets has traditionally been concerned with the modelling of house price determinants using hedonic regression equations and other methods of data interpretation. While this research has unveiled some useful insights into the relationships between housing supply, housing demand, and selling price, more recent work has focused on the "specialness" of housing as a commodity and the subsequent dismissal of regression techniques that only serve to throw us into a "statistical soup". Recent research is different in two key respects. First, forces other than macro-level variables (eg. interest rates and the availability of finance) and micro-level variables (household income, size, proximity to work) are believed to contribute to the fluctuations in housing prices over time and through space: specifically, more subjective evaluations of locational amenity, identity construction, and community are now considered in the valorisation of housing. Furthermore, newer research also understands that exogenous influences (eg. immigration, foreign investment) now play a key role in the determination of residential value. This research on residential real estate markets in Canada engages in discussions revolving around the latter of the two approaches using both qualitative and quantitative methods. At the inter-urban scale, analysis of house price movements in Canada's largest cities shows the divergence of Toronto and Vancouver from other CMAs, a trend that coincides with the increasing globalisation of both cities over the last 15 years. Further, intra-urban analyses of both Toronto and Vancouver demonstrate differential impacts of globalisation and economic restructuring within each city with particular neighbourhoods being placed on more of a "global" real estate market (eg. gentrified neighbourhoods, residential areas experiencing offshore investment, and areas of settlement for wealthy immigrants). The particular impacts of globalisation are, however, very different in each city and is dependant upon the nature of the global flows that converge there. Moreover, these results are not politically mute; considerable effort has been expended in Vancouver at least to obscure the actual effects of internationalisation on the regional housing market.

For a short period during the 1960s Toronto’s Yorkville district was found at the centre of Canada’s youthful bohemian scene. Students, artists, hippies, greasers, bikers, and “weekenders” congregated in and around the district, enjoying the live music and theatre in its many coffee houses, its low-rent housing in overcrowded Victorian walk-ups, and its perceived saturation with anti-establishmentarian energy. For a period of roughly ten years, Yorkville served as a crossroads for Torontonian (and even English Canadian) youth, as a venue for experimentation with alternative lifestyles and beliefs, and an apparent refuge from the dominant culture and the stifling expectations it had placed upon them. Indeed, by 1964 every young Torontonian (and many young Canadians) likely knew that social rebellion and Yorkville went together as fingers interlaced. Making the Scene unpacks the complicated history of this fraught community, examining the various meanings represented by this alternative scene in an anxious 1960s. Throughout, this dissertation emphasizes the relationship between power, authenticity and identity on the figurative stage for identity performance that was Yorkville. / Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2007-10-02 09:46:00.077

Acculturation is a predominant feature of today’s society and one that has unique implications for immigrants’ mental health. Given that two thirds of Canada’s population growth is due to immigration, understanding the effects of acculturation on newcomers should be a central focus of academic research. The present study utilized an exploratory quantitative method to investigate the associations between acculturation strategies, quality of life, and negative affect in a sample of 180 Brazilian immigrants living in the Greater Toronto Area. The mediating and moderating roles of quality of life (QOL) were explored, as well as which patterns of acculturation strategies were associated with enhanced well-being, represented by low negative affect (NA), high QOL, and high Satisfaction with Life in Canada (SLCI). Clusters analysis identified patterns of acculturation strategy use, resulting in four acculturation profiles: integrated, assimilated, separated, and marginalized. Results indicated that QOL did not act as either a mediator or moderator of the relationship between acculturation profiles and NA. With regard to well-being indicators, acculturation profiles successfully predicted NA and SLCI, with the Assimilated being the most favourable profile evidenced by its lowest NA and highest SLCI levels. While acculturation profiles did not predict QOL, the trend of the Assimilated profile being predictive of favourable well-being was also present as its members reported slightly higher QOL than their counterparts from other profiles. Well-being risk and protective factors are presented. The results highlight the importance of including control variables in future research in order to uncover the unique impact of acculturation on the mental health of immigrants. Implications for practice and future research are also discussed.

This is a history of returned soldiers of the Great War in Toronto covering the period from when they began returning home in 1915 through to the end of demobilization in late 1919. Based largely in newspaper research, the focus is the discourse of returned men, as they were frequently called, and the role they played in Toronto and in Canada more broadly. The dissertation examines veterans' attitudes, the opinions they expressed, the goals they collectively pursued, the actions they took and their significance as actors and symbols in the public sphere. The study shows that during and immediately after the war returned soldiers played a prominent role in public debate over conscription and wartime politics, the status of non-British immigrants in Canada, the Red Scare and re-establishment policy. In exploring these topics the study elaborates on the identities veterans collectively adopted and constructed for themselves as comrades and citizens. Class, definitions of masculinity, British-Canadian ethno-nationality and experience as soldiers all affected formulations of veteran citizenship and comradeship. Returned soldiers' representations of their citizenship resonated powerfully in Canadian society. The experiences and symbolism of returned soldiers generated interest in civilian society that granted them easy access to the public sphere and encouraged pro-war politicians to use returnees to promote the war effort. Veterans took advantage of their access to the press and public stages to broadcast their own views and claim that their service gave them special rights to intervene in public affairs. Comradeship was vitally important to returned soldiers and set them apart from civilians, but it was neither a simple nor stable category. Veterans' debates and the history of veterans' associations testify to the fact that collective service in the war did not erase civilian identities and create a stable platform for united collective activism after the war. Furthermore, comradeship sometimes existed uneasily with the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Parliamentary methods were fundamental to veterans' activism, but their politics were also performative, often pursued and proclaimed at street level, and a minority of veterans threatened and engaged in violence they claimed was justified.

This is a history of returned soldiers of the Great War in Toronto covering the period from when they began returning home in 1915 through to the end of demobilization in late 1919. Based largely in newspaper research, the focus is the discourse of returned men, as they were frequently called, and the role they played in Toronto and in Canada more broadly. The dissertation examines veterans' attitudes, the opinions they expressed, the goals they collectively pursued, the actions they took and their significance as actors and symbols in the public sphere. The study shows that during and immediately after the war returned soldiers played a prominent role in public debate over conscription and wartime politics, the status of non-British immigrants in Canada, the Red Scare and re-establishment policy. In exploring these topics the study elaborates on the identities veterans collectively adopted and constructed for themselves as comrades and citizens. Class, definitions of masculinity, British-Canadian ethno-nationality and experience as soldiers all affected formulations of veteran citizenship and comradeship. Returned soldiers' representations of their citizenship resonated powerfully in Canadian society. The experiences and symbolism of returned soldiers generated interest in civilian society that granted them easy access to the public sphere and encouraged pro-war politicians to use returnees to promote the war effort. Veterans took advantage of their access to the press and public stages to broadcast their own views and claim that their service gave them special rights to intervene in public affairs. Comradeship was vitally important to returned soldiers and set them apart from civilians, but it was neither a simple nor stable category. Veterans' debates and the history of veterans' associations testify to the fact that collective service in the war did not erase civilian identities and create a stable platform for united collective activism after the war. Furthermore, comradeship sometimes existed uneasily with the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Parliamentary methods were fundamental to veterans' activism, but their politics were also performative, often pursued and proclaimed at street level, and a minority of veterans threatened and engaged in violence they claimed was justified.

Increased urban diversity in the metropolises of North America urges us to examine the different forms of mobility of transnational communities in cosmopolitan societies. Recent technological advancements, including developments in transport and communication networks, have significantly influenced participation in transnational activities and belonging to transnational social spaces. This study examines the relationships between long-term mobility (migration) and short-term mobility (tourism) by investigation the “visiting friends and family” travel of immigrants that best exemplifies the nexus between the two contemporary phenomena. As increasing levels of globalization and international migration are likely to be accompanied by increased transnationalism, the research uses transnationalism as a conceptual framework to study immigrants’ overseas travel. Research into the relationship between tourism and migration requires engaging with issues of citizenship as different categories of migrants have different rights in the country of settlement. This has implications for travel as revealed in the movements that occur between the places of origin of immigrants (which become destinations) and the new places of residence (which become new origins). These movements are likely to be influenced by the rights and duties of immigrants as citizens living within and moving around different states. This study examines the relationship between the overseas travel patterns of immigrants and their citizenship status. It also examines the role of ethnic and family reunion in shaping these travel patterns. The study also provides a deeper theoretical and empirical analysis of the role of ethnic reunion in shaping the travel patterns of immigrants and of the social and cultural meanings associated with the travel to the ancestral homeland. All of these issues are tackled by examining Palestinian immigrants in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and by employing a mixed methods approach engaging both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. Major research methods that are employed in the research include key informant interviews, questionnaire surveys, in-depth interviews, observation and field notes, and the use of secondary data. The study explored the politics of mobility for Palestinian-Canadians, an understudied population in terms of transnational practices and issues of identity and hybridity. It also explored issues of citizenship and belonging using extensive interview data with Palestinian-Canadians in the GTA. Throughout the thesis the highly politicized aspect of mobility/immobility, national identity, and national autonomy in the Palestinian case was present. The research highlighted the continuing role of state actors in determining mobility and rights, despite the increasing rhetoric of borderless mobility. The study reveals that the majority of the Palestinian Canadians travel overseas regularly and their outbound travel patterns demonstrate a significant ethnic component. Palestinian Canadians travel to their country of birth as their dominant outbound travel destination for the purposes of visiting friends and relatives and maintaining social and cultural ties, indicating strong ties with homeland that have ethnic links. However, Palestinians holding Canadian citizenship have a higher propensity to travel overseas than permanent resident. The return visits have social and cultural significance to the first and second generations. However, these return visits do not facilitate return migration.

Woven within fashion and dress is the innate ability to create atmosphere and transformative experiences. Architecturally, the façade of a building acts as its skin, having responsibilities that exceed the functions of shelter and materiality. The process of dressing buildings create and shape dynamic relationships with all the elements of its surroundings. Beyond the basic need for convenience and protection, both practices operate as part of a larger world of personified and tailored objects that create ambience and space. This thesis, entitled unDressing Spectacle, explores the parallels between the fashion and architecture within the context of their own industries as well as each other’s. Themes of dress and undress are juxtaposed onto both crafts - literally and metaphorically - at three different scales: the adornment of the individual; the design object within society and the urban fabric; and the discourse between branding and the economic condition. Creating the framework for fantastic events within the urban fabric, this thesis takes the form of a Fashion & Design Event Centre upon which the discourse between user and the design object unfolds. Placed in Toronto’s vibrant west end, the building is a symbol of permanence and an icon for fashion and design. The proposed design is the manifestation of the inherent conflict within the thesis, juxtaposing fashion’s ability to seduce and manufacture desires with the complex structuring of neutral spaces to allow for a multiplicity of users and events. At the city scale, the luminous and dynamic layers of building skin attracts and lures; as users approach and ultimately enter the building, the imagery is transformed into unique atmospheric experiences. This thesis harnesses the glamour of fashion as the medium to ignite the re-imagination of architecture’s value and the interpretation of beauty and style, providing the means for experiences to transcend into a world of spectacle.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Toronto, 2004. / Adviser: Mary Beattie.

Thesis (M.Arch.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 79-83). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (D.P.H.)--University of Michigan.