Asian Immigration in the US - Essay Example

Regional Analysis – China Town Introduction A region is defined by a certain characteristic that uniquely sets the region apart from its surroundings. According to a study, one out of five living in this world is a Chinese. (Historians.org 2009) The Chinese population has become so large that their population is scattered all around the world. In order to improve their economy and way of living, the Chinese started to emigrate from their homeland to other countries like US in the early 18th century itself. Their presence started to grew and at present their ethnic characteristic has led to creation of formal regions all around the world. The Chinese people started to immigrate into different parts of US and started settling in suitable places. Due to poor economic conditions during 19th century, the American people employed the Chinese to work for low wages and this helped in increasing the number of people immigrating into US. One such place where they got settled was in the lower part of Manhattan where about 1100 Chinese started to settle down in the Five Points Slum on New York’s south-east side during 1870’s. (Waxman (n.d)) Starting from that time till the 1970’s the traditional borders started from Baxter Street in West, extending horizontally up to the Bowery in the East. On a longitudinal division, the location extended from Canal Street in North to Worth Street in South. The area covered by the above said perimeters soon turned out to be what is called as the China Town.(Experience Festival 2009) Being the second biggest Chinatown in the United States, the area is located to lower eastern side of Manhattan. The spatial area covers up to 2 square miles and the current Chinese population is estimated around 150,000.The Areas occupied by the Chinese grew by 24% in 2000 when compared with the 1990 census. The residents of the region have a tendency towards low participation in the US Census, mainly because of language barriers and illegal immigration and hence the population census cannot be termed as accurate in detail. The current scenario is that, after September 11 incident, the immigration has reduced considerably reducing the percentage to 10%. (Asian American Federation of New York 2004) After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Chinatown was affected pretty much as both their economic and immigration got slowed down. Hence, geographically the boundaries continued to shift. The current borders of Chinatown are considered to be from Delancey Street in North till the SoHo section of NYC to the Chambers Street in the South till the City Hall area and from East Broadway in the East till Williamsburg Bridge to Broadway in the West till the TriBeCa sections of NYC. The longitudinal area spans across one mile and the latitudinal area spans across two miles. (Experience Festival 2009) The study of the population based on Census 2000 and PUMS data shows that the Chinese business and population spans across four zip codes: 10002, 10012, 10013 and 10038. (AAFNY 2004) Apart from these, with growing improvement in Chinese garment industries, there were two more census tracks included showing that the Chinese occupied spatial extent is growing. Also, before the attacks, the number of immigrants to Manhattan increased considerable and as a result, several other areas in and around New York got the overflowed Chinese getting accommodated. Examples of such areas include Flushing in Queens, Sunset Park in Brooklyn etc. These facts prove that the boundaries of Chinatown are shifting.(Tung 2009) The above description of the Chinatown with respect to its absolute and relative locational terms shows that Chinatown can be categorized as a formal region. Since the above specified area consists of people with similar characteristic, which is the Chinese ethnicity and with the passing of government rules regarding immigration, China town has all the requirements to be considered as a formal region. Chinatown, an ethnic group of Chinese, forms an important component of the total ethnic diversity of the state. It forms 60% of the total Asian immigrant community. There are several ethnic groups hierarchically situated in and around Chinatown based on their emergence in the state. They are also categorized based on their population base with blacks forming the major part of the total ethnic population. The neighborhood ethnic groups that take up some percentage of Chinatown include the Irish, settled in Harlem, Italians in little Italy and the Spanish with Puerto Rican people in East Harlem. All these regions come in and around Chinatown. But, the Chinese groups form the core of Chinatown. (City-data 2009) Though Chinatown is formed with the group of Chinese people having same characteristics, the region cannot be considered as completely homogeneous region. This is due to the fact that the background history of the inhabitants and businessman differ by large scales. Only few people are descendants of the initial set of people who got settled in the region. Also with the inclusion of people from Hong Kong and Taiwan and Vietnam, arriving in the late 1970’s, there is a complete difference in their linguistic and traditional approaches. Hence there is a definite gap between these different sets of people. All these facts conclude that the region is not completely homogeneous. As mentioned, due to the terrorist attacks, the main line connecting Chinatown, the Park Row was blocked. This has received heavy criticism from many critics who are of the view that the town is dying without proper in flow of tourists and hence lack of income. According to Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership, “The main lifeline to Chinatown has been closed since September 11 because of security concerns so the people who used to come here to get dumplings for lunch are staying away now”. (Ohrstrom 2008) Also there is strong opposition from the Chinese for the rezoning policy, as it would affect their business and in turn their way of living. The boundaries of the region are still under scrutiny. With opposition rising from both the government and the Chinese, a conclusive agreement is yet to be achieved. As of now, there is no possibility of any one asking about the coherence of the region as it is strongly moving forward with the Manhattan Corporation including Chinatown in its planning and development. Coherent policies and strategies are been devised to help the Chinese recover in their business and employment strategies are worked out to provide jobs to the unemployed. Also Chinatown is considered to be an integral part of the state’s total revenue. Hence, there is no possibility for the disintegration of Chinese group and therefore Chinatown will always be a coherent region. (AAFNY 2004) Conclusion On a concluding note, Chinatown in Manhattan can be considered as a perfect example for a prototype of how formal region is created. The spatial extents of the region were discussed with geographical facts indicating the spread of the region across the state. Evidences were also provided for considering the region to be partly homogeneous and to show the current problems facing the boundary issues. Finally, the region was proved to be a formal coherent region with the proof of statistical data. References (n.d). (2009). New York – Ethnic groups. Retrieved from: http://www.city-data.com/states/New-York-Ethnic-groups.html (n.d).(2009). Our Chinese Ally: Who are the Chinese? Retrieved from http://www.historians.org/projects/GIRoundtable/Chinese/Chinese2.htm (n.d). (2009). Chinatown Manhattan: Encyclopedia - Chinatown Manhattan. Experience festival. Retrieved from: http://www.experiencefestival.com/a/Chinatown_Manhattan/id/1965852 Asian American Federation of New York Census Information Center. 2004. CensusProfile: New York City’s Chinese American Population. Asian American Federation of New York Census Information Center. Retrieved from : http://www.hawaii.edu/hivandaids/Census_Profile__New_York_City_s_Chinese_American_Population.pdf Asian American Federation of New York (AAFNY). (2004) Neighborhood Profile: Manhattan’s Chinatown. http://www.aafny.org/cic/briefs/Chinatownbrief.pdf Asian American Federation of New York (AAFNY). (2004) Baseline characteristics of Chinatown: Neighborhood, Demographic, Social and Economic profiles. Retrieved from: http://www.aafny.org/research/dl/911study/08AppendixA.pdf Ohrstrom, L. (2008, May 1). The Local: Chinatown Frets Becoming Another Little Italy. The New York Observer. Retrieved from: http://www.observer.com/2008/local-chinatown Tung, Larry.(2009). Chinatown Looks for a Way to Survive and Thrive. Gotham Gazette. Retrieved from: http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/immigrants/20090420/11/2888 Waxman, S. (n.d). The History of New Yorks Chinatown. Retrieved from: http://www.ny.com/articles/chinatown.html Read More