Mini Essay 2:

The sentiment that globalization seems to be a differential process, which means it is

deployed differently in seperate parts of the world, and is reacted to differently by the people
living in these places is one that can be proven by comparing the cities of Greater Vancouver and
Greater Victoria. The city I was raised in and the city I live in now. Even though they seem close
in distance from each other (a few hours by car and ferry), they have differences when compared
side by side.
When I was growing up I always considered Victoria to be a mini-Vancouver due to the
smaller population, smaller land size and being less known because it is on an island instead of
the ‘mainland’. But now since I live in the “big city” I can see the differences more greatly than
before. Similarly to Vancouver, Victoria has a strong Asian population (Government of Canada,
Statistics Canada, 2023), but most of the integration of Asian culture is restricted to Downtown
or Chinatown and hasn't spread very greatly. Except for some restaurants across town. The likes
of shops and grocery stores also have not seen large expansion. Only in the near future, the first
large-scale Asian supermarket will be opened in the most popular mall on Vancouver Island
(Gaetz, 2023). This is very different from Vancouver’s implementation of different cultures in
most parts of urban districts, as there is probably a T&T market in every mall in the city.
Naturally, there are still large parts (sub-regions) of the city that hold large populations of one
ethnic group. Loughheed with its own Koreatown and Richmond population is about 54%
ethnically Chinese (Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, 2023). The implementation of
separate cultures and the increase of globalization is much more so in Vancouver than in Victoria
for comparison.
Due to this increased integration in Vancouver, it has seen a lot more cultural
homogeneity than Victoria. However, this lack of cultural homogeneity in Victoria could be
accredited to less efficient transit systems and the ability to move around to different places. As I
have observed, the transit pales in comparison to what the ‘big city’ has. I would not consider
Victoria as the ‘slow world’ but they are not as fast as Vancouver's ‘fast world’. As the fast world
increases, globalization could increase too, because it is easier to spread cultures to new
places(Ferguson, 2024). Victoria hasn't reached that yet, it is happening much slower and to a
more subtle way.
 Different places evolve at different speeds and in different ways. Vancouver being a much
larger city than Victoria, naturally has evolved at a much faster speed. The globalization in
Vancouver completely triumphs over Victoria’s in comparison. Culture, the way it evolves and is
reacted to will always be different no matter where you go.

Bibliography:

Government of Canada, Statistics Canada. (2023a, October 4). Focus on Geography

Series, 2021 Census - Victoria (Census metropolitan area).
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/page.cfm?topic=10&lang=
E&dguid=2021S0503935

Gaetz, W. (2023, January 25). Vancouver Island’s first h-mart store coming to Mayfair
mall. CTV News Victoria. Retrieved March 7, 2024, from
https://vancouverisland.ctvnews.ca/vancouver-island-s-first-h-mart-store-coming-to-mayfair-mal
l-1.6246897.

Government of Canada, Statistics Canada, S. C. (2023, October 4). Focus on Geography

Series, 2021 Census of Population Richmond, City. Focus on Geography Series, 2021 Census -
Richmond (Census subdivision).
https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2021/as-sa/fogs-spg/page.cfm?topic=10&lang=
E&dguid=2021A00055915015

Ferguson, G. (2024, January). Understanding the World as a System. Geog 100. burnaby;
Simon Fraser.