The Removal and Renewal of Los Angeles Chinatown From the Exclusion Era to the Global Era.

The history of urban renewal in American cities is also a legacy of "racial removal" of racial and ethnic minorities. Los Angeles Chinatown was twice subjected to clearance during the era of Chinese immigrant exclusion. Despite these challenges, the ethnic entrepreneurs and leaders of Chinatown created new Chinatowns, and periodically reached out to local business leaders and booster organizations to market Chinatown for urban tourism. Since the arrival of the "global era" in the 1960s and the liberalization of U.S. immigrant and trade laws, Los Angeles Chinatown has encountered new opportunities for growth and redevelopment. The renewal of Chinatown has been associated with the efforts of community-based artists, historians, and activists in undertakings such as ethnic heritage museums, public arts projects, cultural festivals, and preservation of landmarks and cultural sites. Chinatown is a site where the "ethnic enclave" economy increasingly intersects with the growing "creative economy" in sectors such as tourism, entertainment, and the arts. There are costs as well as benefits associated with the growth of tourism, the arts economy, and gentrification in Los Angeles Chinatown ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]