The politics of space and identity: Making place in a suburban district

Abstract

This chapter examines the interlocking notions of migration, space, and identity through a study of a suburban district, Box Hill, in Melbourne, Australia. It argues that the evolving spatiality of Box Hill, perceived as an emerging Chinatown in public narratives, is an outcome of international migration and domestic immigration policies. The case of Box Hill is illustrative of global formations of multiethnic neighborhoods, particularly revolving around public politics about space and identity. This study sheds light on the discursive production of Box Hill, as a place, through its discursive relation with Chinatown, as a space; by applying the notion of place-making, this study reveals tension with public politics of space and identity as well as agencies and impetuses under which multifaceted ethnic spaces were produced in a translocal terrain.