As part of a research project on neighbourhood change in cities across Canada we have developed a typology of neighbourhoods for eight Canadian Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs): Calgary, Halifax, Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Vancouver, and Winnipeg.
We created this typology using 2006 census data for 3,139 census tracts in the eight CMAs. We focused on 30 variables related to economic status, age, family, and household status, immigrant and ethnic status, migrant status, and housing status.
By analysing the relationships among these variables using component analysis and undertaking a cluster analysis of the component scores we were able to identify 15 clusters of census tracts that characterize distinct urban neighbourhoods. We have organized these 15 clusters into six larger groups: Older Working Class, Urban/Suburban Homeowner, Old City Establishment, Disadvantaged Groups, and Family Ethnoburbs.
Not all clusters appear in all CMAs. Toronto includes all 15 clusters, while Halifax (the smallest city in the study) has only nine. Larger and more socially complex CMAs exhibit the largest number of clusters.
by Robert Murdie, PhD, Professor Emeritus, Cities Centre, University of Toronto, and Department of Geography, York University
Neighbourhood Change Research Partnership Policy Brief #1, August 2012
It is important to consider the spatial distribution of needed repairs. Buildings that are in most need of repair in high-poverty areas are likely to have higher rates of residential turnover and cater to tenants who have very limited housing choices and need to be housed quickly. Consequently, it will likely be difficult to establish any kind of meaningful community life in these buildings and the probability of social disorder may increase.
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A one-day invitational symposium with the SSHRC Partnership Grant proposal team, June 23, 2011, Neighbourhood Change Research Group, University of Toronto. Much has occurred in the broader socio-economic context that requires new ways of thinking about how and why urban neighbourhoods change, and how we should study neighbourhood change. Little consideration has been given to how traditional ideas about neighborhood change affect analyses of urban areas. We need to move forward to new ways of thinking, researching, and offering policy advice about the often dramatic changes that are taking place in urban socio-spatial patterns.
The presentations of six of the speakers are posted here.
1. How should we study neighbourhood change today?
2. Socio-spatial Inequality: What to Focus Research on and Why?
3. Population Groups: Defining Priorities for Cross-Disciplinary Thematic Neighbourhood Research
4. From the Field: Emerging Issues & Research Needs
Local Government
- Mike Buda, Director, Policy & Research, Federation of Canadian Municipalities
- Harvey Low, Social Policy Analysis & Research, City of Toronto
Low-income Neighbourhoods
- Social Planning Toronto, Community development planners who work in Toronto’s “City #3”
Despite extensive literature on the nature and impact of gentri?cation, there has been little consideration of the effects of gentri?cation on ethnic neighbourhoods. This study evaluates the negative and positive effects of gentri?cation on the Portuguese in west central Toronto. Details concerning the settlement patterns of the Portuguese, the characteristics of Portuguese residents and patterns of gentri?cation in inner-city Toronto were obtained from census data. Evaluations of neighbourhood change and attitudes of the residents towards gentri?cation were obtained from key informant and focus group interviews. The results suggest considerable ambivalence among the respondents, but most agreed that the long-term viability of Little Portugal as an immigrant reception area with a good supply of low-cost housing is in doubt.
Research Bulletin 42, March 2008, 12 pages. Immigrants to Canada are increasingly concentrated in Canada’s three biggest metropolitan areas. Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver accommodate 70% of those who arrived between 2001 and 2006. The three biggest gateway cities, however, exhibit important differences in the ethnic groups they attract, and the patterns of settlement. Toronto and Vancouver have some similarities (more Asians, more immigrants settling in the suburbs), while Montreal has a larger proportion of European and African immigrants, who still tend to cluster in the central city. The suburbanization of immigration in Toronto and Vancouver poses challenges for service provision and planning and raises questions about the pros and cons of suburban ethnic enclaves in enhancing immigrant integration.
