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Community response to environmental change : a case study of Montreal's West Island 1981-1991

The Burton, Kates and White model of community response to environmental change is used to study a rapidly developing suburb of Montreal. Between 1973 and 1988, 11 376 single family dwellings were built in the 'West Island'. A geographic information system (GIS) analysis shows 40 percent of vacant land was developed between 1983 and 1989, over half this was for low density housing. A study of citizens' perceptions of the changes shows 72 percent of residents felt local environmental conditions were the same or better than when they first moved to the area (average 14 years) and 71 percent felt the quality of the community was the same or better. The condition of wooded areas was the largest determinant of perception of local environmental conditions and "friendliness" was most closely related to evaluations of community quality. A history of environmental activism describes a sector of the population as having crossed a "threshold of tolerance" and taken action to protect valued natural assets of the community.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.69612
Date January 1992
CreatorsAdams, Jennifer
ContributorsMeredith, T. C. (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Arts (Department of Geography.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001358640, proquestno: AAIMM91665, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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