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Industry and space : the making of Montreal's industrial geography, 1850-1918

The purpose of this thesis is to explore several issues regarding the industrial geography of the North American city between 1850 and 1918, using Montreal as a case-study. The two dominant locational theories (Weberian and transactional) are critiqued and three problems are identified: their reliance on simplistic conceptions of industrial organization; their inability to take account of cycles of investment; and their neglect of the social construction of the built environment. A reformulation of urban industrial geography is presented which stresses the diversity of productive strategies open to industries; the relationship of these strategies to rhythms of changes to technology, the labour process, and the organizational structure of firms; and the actions of local growth machines in the making of industrial space. These claims are developed through an empirical examination of Montreal. Using the municipal tax assessment rolls a description of the location of Montreal's manufacturing firms in 1861 and 1890 establishes the context for a discussion of the key dynamics of the city's industrial geography through histories of selected industries (clothing, metal, cotton, and baking) and industrial districts (Saint-Ann and Saint-Henri).

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.39790
Date January 1992
CreatorsLewis, Robert David
ContributorsOlson, S. (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
CoverageDoctor of Philosophy (Department of Geography.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001325989, proquestno: NN87635, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

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