Search

This study examines the role of municipalities in the development and vitality of Francophone minority communities. The municipality can be of particular importance to Francophones in minority settings given the growing role of municipalities in cultural, recreational and socio-economic areas, as well as the fact that local government is the only level of government where Francophones outside Quebec may form the majority or represent a significant demographic weight. This paper reports on the main findings of a survey of municipalities across the country with a Francophone population of 6% or more or member of a Francophone or bilingual association. The results focus on practices, as well as some of the factors explaining them, around the themes of Francophone weight and power, language status, languages of communication, languages of service and Francophone spaces, and public recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Has global environmental change impacted on the urban way of life and on urban policy? Research shows that climate change has become a major urban political issue, but what can one say about biodiversity? This paper will, firstly, examine the urban assemblage perspective, which presents itself as a new approach to urban theory. This approach has been criticized, but its remains valid as a way of making sense of emerging urban practices. Among these practices are urban policy on climate change and biodiversity. Secondly, the paper examines action plans on biodiversity in six Canadian metropolises. The conclusion asks whether taking into account global environmental change in urban planning leads to a new reshaping of large urban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the socialization of international students through their residential environment during their stay in Montréal. It provides a contextualization of the spatial and social environment in the dense and relatively heterogeneous downtown area of Quebec's metropolis. It then delves more deeply into the (co)housing conditions of international students through an exploration of the qualities and dynamics of three types of accommodation: traditional university residences (RUT), private residences for internationally mobile individuals (RPI) and traditional private rental housing (LPT). On the basis of a mixed method study using a combination of statistical sources and in-depth interviews, the socio-political conditions and relationships of international students are empirically documented. Supporting the academic literature, we show that their residential conditions and practices tend to generate limited spatial and social experiences that challenge the socializing qualities of their vertically ascending residential habitats. The findings open up the reflection on the design of social interiors that take on the characteristics of "refuge", "haven" or even fragmentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within urban areas, a growing number of citizens independently set up initiatives to face climate change, such as greening, urban agriculture or alternative energy projects. This paper seeks to understand how local citizens'actors contribute to urban climate governance through small-scale social and environmental experiments. Based on a Montreal (Canada) neighbourhood Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie case study of eight initiatives, the research is based on a theoretical framework combining climate governance experiments and sociotechnical transition theory. The accumulation and influence of such initiatives can contribute to redefine urban issues and demonstrate the feasibility and acceptability of simple solutions in order to implement an urban transition in face of climate change. Using their social network but also their objectives and know-how, urban activists establish their legitimacy as stakeholders who can propose alternatives to the municipal government. Results of the study also show that such local experiments reflect the growing power of informal collective modes of action. Indeed, through local "green" actions, citizens produce impacts that are immediate, concrete, simple and "personal-benefit-oriented." By doing so, they build new ecosystems made of various partnerships. This offers an innovative alternative model in the face of the current ways of consuming resources and about how we socially deal with the climate crisis under a paradigm shaped by capitalism and neoliberalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable development is at the heart of planning policies of Canadian cities. Reconciling heritage preservation and urban intensification, yet both on the agenda of sustainable development, involves negotiation skills from the municipalities between, on the one hand, residents' associations and, on the other hand, real estate companies. Each project involving modification of historic buildings requires a set of concessions from the various actors, able to mobilize a different set of defensive resources. In this paper, we propose to study the case of the district of Lower Town East, in Ottawa, where a eight-story building project, requiring the destruction of old houses in the name of urban intensification, has generated a strong mobilization of the citizens and the press. The case of Lower Town East is a perfect illustration of the difficult association between heritage and intensification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What do we mean by « projet urbain » and what is new with this concept? Projet urbain refers to a European concept of planning which is understood in dissimilar ways by different authors, and it seems interesting to synthetise different points of view to create its definition, showing certain dimensions of this concept as well as certain deviations thereof. This paper examines the redevelopment of the Old Port of Montreal within this projet urbain concept. We want to show how the federal government has led a projet urbain for the port; and how its open and progressive planning, as well as the public's participation, has allowed an intervention which respects the site. However, the lack of collaboration between the various levels of government did not favour the conception of the project with relation to the environment. Finally there is a lack of follow-up on the project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a century the concept of community has been the subject of numerous studies, but only few have been initiated by geographers. However, their studies have enhanced our understanding of the role of space and place in a community. This paper will examine Anne Buttimer's concept of social space and the potential it has to broaden our understanding of community. This theoretical reflection, inspired by the Little Québec of Florida, will also propose a working definition of community that takes into account the notions of space and place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]