Within the complexity of today’s urban political economy, Chinatown emerges as a provocative and critical site to dissect how market, state, and community actors construct and negotiate the processes of neoliberalization to forge a new frontier in urban development. By engaging the narratives of Chinatowns in Chicago and New York City—historically rooted in resistance and community—a microcosm emerges for exploring the ways in which economic interests produce and repackage culture and tourism to elevate the prominence of the contemporary city. Strategies of resistance such as organizing and coalition-building will be examined.