| The last four decades have witnessed the evolution of Vietnamese American communities and the constructs through which they are observed and analyzed. In Orange County, the initial scholarly interest in Vietnamese refugees centered on resettlement and population distribution, two inherently spatial concepts aimed at answering questions about assimilation and community impact. Over the years, scholars have increasingly shifted their attention toward economics, identity and politics to describe, explain and understand "Little Saigon." In the wake of these changes, spatiality has been neglected as a prominent characteristic in describing a community.;The objective of this thesis is to revisit the concept of spatiality in Little Saigon, or the concentration of Vietnamese Americans living in and around Orange County. Specifically, I will address the question of whether Little Saigon can be mapped at all, and the question of space directly: Is spatiality an essential characteristic of Little Saigon? After extensive data processing and analysis, I conclude in the affirmative for both questions. Based on the resultant maps, I also conclude that the Vietnamese voter distribution trend from 2000 to 2012 implies a "thickening" of the concentrated community core more than an exodus to the periphery. |
