Multicultural Cities

Book excerpt: What defines a multicultural city? Policy? Geography? Demography? In Multicultural Cities, Mohammad Abdul Qadeer offers a tour of three of North America’s premier multicultural metropolises – Toronto, New York, and Los Angeles – that demonstrates the critical qualities that make these cities multicultural. Guided by the perspective that multiculturalism is the combination of cultural diversity with a common ground of values and institutions, Qadeer examines the social geography, economy, and everyday life of each metropolitan area. His analysis spans the divide between Canada, where multiculturalism is official government policy, and the United States, where it is not. A comprehensive investigation of how some of today’s leading majority-minority cities thrive, written by a keen observer of North American urban life, Multicultural Cities is an important complement to any discussion about how cities can and should accommodate diversity.