Anne-Marie Séguin

Measuring the Accessibility of Services and Facilities for Residents of Public Housing in Montreal

For the residents of public housing, whose mobility is often reduced due to their precarious economic situation and their stage in the life cycle, the accessibility of services and facilities is a fundamental concern. Moreover, in Montreal, public housing is dispersed throughout the city. Accessibility thus varies greatly from one building to the next. The aims of this study are first to evaluate the accessibility of various urban resources using spatial data analysis in geographical information systems and then to develop an indicator of the accessibility of services and facilities for each public housing project using multivariate data analysis. The final results show that there are eight sub-types of landscape facilities around public housing buildings. Overall, half of the residents of public housing buildings have very good or good accessibility to services and facilities. Most of these residents live in public housing in some of the central or relatively central districts. On the other hand, for 45 per cent of public housing residents, there is a low level of access and 5 per cent have very limited service accessibility.

Mapping the Greenscape and Environmental Equity in Montreal: An Application of Remote Sensing and GIS

Vegetation and green spaces provide multiple benefits for urban life but they are not always evenly distributed throughout cities. Recent studies have shown that deprived and ethnic populations have less access to vegetation, which is a form of environmental inequity. The goal of this study is to map the vegetation cover and to spatially depict the problematic areas in terms of environmental inequity in Montreal. We carry out an object-oriented classification in eCognition from Quickbird images (at a resolution of 60cm) to identify two categories of vegetation: trees/shrub and grass. We then compute 12 vegetation indicators representing the proportion of vegetation, trees/shrub and grass in streets, alleys and residential yards. Finally, statistical analyses are undertaken to reveal the link between the vegetation indicators and the proportion of immigrants, visible minorities and low income individuals. Our results show that the proportion of vegetation varies significantly across the boroughs. About 30% of the areas exhibiting an elevated proportion of the three groups are identified as very high inequity whereas 10 to 14% are identified as areas with high green benefits. Environmental inequity with respect to the three populations also expresses differently depending on the type of green spaces (street and alleys for immigrants and visible minorities while all the three types of green spaces for the low income population). This study may interest city planners and local governments as the findings could better inform decisions regarding greening programs.

Application of a Global Environmental Equity Index in Montreal: Diagnostic and Further Implications

Urban living environments are known to influence human well-being and health. The literature on environmental equity focuses especially on the distribution of nuisances and resources, which, because of the unequal spatial distribution of different social groups, leads to an increased exposure to risks or to less access to beneficial elements for certain populations. Little work has been done on the multidimensionality of different environmental burdens and the lack of resources in some urban environments. This article has two main objectives. The first objective is to construct an environmental equity index that takes into consideration seven components of the urban environment (traffic-related pollutants, proximity to major roads and highways, vegetation, access to parks, access to supermarkets, and the urban heat island effect). The second objective is to determine whether groups vulnerable to different nuisances—namely, individuals under fifteen years old and the elderly—and those who tend to be located in the most problematic areas according to the environmental justice literature (i.e., visible minorities and low-income populations) are affected by environmental inequities associated with the application of the composite index at the city block level. The results obtained by using four statistical techniques show that, on the Island of Montreal, low-income persons and, to a lesser extent, visible minorities are more frequently located in city blocks close to major roads and with higher concentrations of NO2 and less vegetation. Finally, the environmental equity index is significantly lower in areas with high concentrations of low-income populations in comparison with the wealthiest areas.

Improving walkability for seniors through accessibility to food stores: a study of three areas of Greater Montreal

The aging of suburbs requires that pedestrian accessibility be favored in this type of environment, because walking is a key element in the quality of life of seniors. This article analyzes the potential for accessibility by foot in three inner suburbs of the Greater Montreal Area. Accessibility was calculated using walking distances throughout the street network. This analysis was complemented by an observation of physical-spatial characteristics likely to affect walking among seniors. Pedestrian accessibility is influenced not only by long travel distances but also by various obstacles that result from land-use decisions in favor of motorized travel on a regional scale. This article reveals the necessity for urban planners to find a balance between local accessibility by foot and public transit, and regional accessibility by motorized transport.

The Changing Spatial Distribution of Montreal Seniors at the Neighbourhood Level: A Trajectory Analysis

Abstract Numerous studies in the 1970s and 1980s examined the changing residential geography of seniors in North American metropolises but recent studies are scarce. The goal of this paper is to identify and model neighbourhood ageing trajectories in Montreal over six consecutive census years (1981–2006). To identify these trajectories, we use a statistical method, Latent Class Growth Modelling, applied to location quotients calculated at the census tracts level (neighbourhoods). The 614 neighbourhoods are classified according to eight ageing trajectories. Next, we examine the predictors of these trajectories by introducing two types of variables: variables characterizing residents and the built environment at the beginning of the study period, and variables that consider the evolution of these characteristics over the 25-year time frame. The most important predictors are the proportions in 1981 of persons 45–64-years old, of one-person households and of low-income families, and the variation from 1981 to 2006 in proportions of persons 0–14-years old and of one-person households.