The geography of urban deprivation change in East Montreal and the Montreal urban community: 1986-1996.

Abstract

In recent years, within the fields of urban geography and urban studies, increasing attention has been paid to the multidimensional concept of urban deprivation. The majority of work on this topic has focused on British and U.S. urban areas with less research directed at Canadian cities. This project made a contribution to the Canadian literature by examining the nature and changing geography of urban deprivation in East Montreal (a section of the central city) and the Montreal Urban Community (MUC) between 1986 and 1996. Essentially, Montreal was selected as a study area because of the significant problems and changes that have occurred in the city over the past several decades. East Montreal contains a number of the city's poorest and most disadvantaged neighbourhoods and as an industrial area was particularly hard hit by the effects of de-industrialization, economic restructuring and recessions during the 1980s and 1990s. The project proposed a model of urban deprivation change, which was applied to the study area to examine its complex and changing social and economic geography. Fourteen indicators of urban deprivation were analyzed at the neighbourhood level (census tracts) in East Montreal and the MUC for three census years---1986, 1991, and 1996. A survey was also conducted in three selected neighbourhoods. The study identified several key trends and findings. There was a significant spreading of urban deprivation and decline during the study period from East Montreal to the remainder of the central city and to several inner suburban municipalities. However, deprivation and decline persisted within East Montreal in the troubled corridor south of Sherbrooke Street. Overall, worsening conditions were more evident during the 1991 to 1996 period compared to the previous five years (1986 to 1991). There was an increase in the level of deprivation among males, particularly with respect to unemployment and poverty. The survey revealed that the majority of respondents were satisfied with their neighbourhoods as a place to live. It also pointed to disparities between census and survey results and suggested that urban deprivation should be considered as more of a relative phenomenon.