The City/Suburb Contrast: How Can We Measure It?

Life in metropolitan areas The city/suburb contrast: How can we measure it?

by Martin Turcotte

ike many other industrialized concepts such as the city centre, the tract (CT) – are defined briefly in the countries, Canada is a very central municipality and the suburban text box entitled “Statistics Canada’s L highly urbanized nation. In 2006, municipality. standard geographic definitions”. just over 80% of the population was All these concepts are important in It should be noted that at present, living in urban areas, and roughly two distinguishing between qualitatively Statistics Canada does not have thirds of Canadians were living in a different districts within urban areas a classification that differentiates census metropolitan area. The social – different not only in form but also in between districts or neighbourhoods phenomena, dynamics and issues that the types of people and households within CMAs. While the various affect these large and sometimes very that comprise them. Since these approaches presented in this large urban areas touch the everyday concepts can be confusing and are article suggest directions that may lives of many people. not commonly used, they should be eventually lead to the development In a new series of articles, defined as clearly as possible. That is of such a typology, they should not be Canadian Social Trends is planning to the main objective of this article. regarded as standard classifications address a number of subjects related In the first part, we will explore at this time. to life in metropolitan areas. We will four possible approaches to the attempt to shed some light on the question of differentiating urban To be or not to be a suburb: A differences and similarities between from suburban neighbourhoods. In question without an answer? Canada’s major census metropolitan the second part, we will use census Both in everyday speech and in areas (CMAs), focusing on their data and selected classification tools urban research, we often refer to component neighbourhoods and to show how the various types of suburbs as opposed to the city, urban districts. Specifically, we will contrast neighbourhoods differ in terms of the neighbourhoods or the city centre. neighbourhoods that have typically characteristics of their populations. A It is probably clear in the minds urban traits with neighbourhoods number of supplementary text boxes of most people who live in one of that have characteristics more also describe alternative approaches Canada’s urban areas whether they typical of the suburbs or suburban which, though not detailed, may prove live “in the city” or “in the suburbs”. areas. In so doing, we will compare useful in identifying other differences Yet the concepts of suburb and city central neighbourhoods and more between neighbourhoods. are seldom understood in the same peripheral neighbourhoods, as well Two geographic concepts that way by everyone and are sometimes as high-density and low-density are of great importance – census used very loosely. neighbourhoods. We will also refer to metropolitan area (CMA) and census

2 Canadian Social Trends Statistics Canada — Catalogue No. 11-008 CST Statistics Canada’s standard geographic definitions

Census metropolitan area (CMA) a committee of local specialists (planners, health and social A CMA is an area consisting of one or more adjacent workers, and educators) delineates CTs in conjunction with municipalities situated around a major urban core. A CMA Statistics Canada. At the time of its creation, the CT is defined must have a population of at least 100,000, and the urban so as to ensure that the population is as homogeneous as core must have a population of at least 50,000. possible in terms of socio-economic characteristics, such The urban core is a large urban area around which as similar economic status and social living conditions. In the boundaries of a CMA or a census agglomeration (CA) addition, the shape of a CT is as compact as possible, with are defined. An urban area is an area with a population its boundaries following permanent, easily recognizable of at least 1,000 and no fewer than 400 persons per square physical features. kilometre. Note to readers Canada currently has 33 CMAs, up from 27 in 2001. The It is important to note that the standard Statistics Canada eight largest CMAs, in descending order by population size, classification concepts of urban core, urban fringe and are Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Ottawa-Gatineau, Calgary, rural fringe are not retained in this discussion because they Edmonton, Québec City, and Winnipeg. do not allow us to distinguish in sufficient detail between For more details, please visit the following Web page: the different areas of an urban region – one of the most http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/reference/ important objectives of this series. For example, in 2006 in dictionary/geo009a.cfm the CMA of Vancouver, 92% of the total population lived in Census tract (CT) an area classified as urban core (the remaining 8% belonged A CT closely matches what most people consider to be to the urban and rural fringes). But this extensive urban core a neighbourhood. When we refer to the concept of a includes both business districts and peripheral residential neighbourhood in this series, we will be referring indirectly neighbourhoods, areas which have very little in common. The to the concept of a CT. situation is similar, if not almost identical, in other CMAs. In CTs are small, relatively stable geographic areas that short, readers should be careful not to confuse the concepts usually have a population of 2,500 to 8,000 people. They are discussed here with the urban core/urban fringe/rural fringe located in CMAs with an urban core population of 50,000 or classification. more as determined in the previous census. Within each CMA,

The central municipality can be Administrative or political referred to as suburban municipalities differentiated from the suburbs in boundaries: the central of the central municipality.2 a number of ways. We will try to municipality and the suburban Two advantages of this method are impose some order on these ideas by municipalities its simplicity and the possibilities it presenting four ways of categorizing In the first and probably most offers for the analysis of local and them, based on four criteria for common method of delineating metropolitan policies. For example, delineation: 1) administrative the centre from the suburbs, the someone may wonder whether a larger or political boundaries; 2) the municipality that lends its name number of suburban municipalities in boundaries of the city’s centralcore, to a metropolitan area is regarded a CMA are producing different urban not to be confused with the urban as the central municipality, while development policies from those core, which is defined in ”Statistics all the other municipalities, towns adopted by a smaller number of Canada’s standard geographic and localities in the metropolitan municipalities. Another advantage is definitions”; 3) distance from the area form the suburbs.1 From this that people generally recognize fairly city centre; and 4) neighbourhood perspective, the suburbs have readily the territorial boundaries of density. As we will see, each one has some degree of political autonomy the municipalities in their region and its strengths and weaknesses. (for example, a mayor and elected can identify their own municipality. representatives) even though they are However, this first approach presents

Statistics Canada — Catalogue No. 11-008 Canadian Social Trends 3 some significant disadvantages for the central municipality as opposed to the to take into account how each one analytic and comparative perspective suburban municipalities will also vary is divided.3 developed in this series, and it will a great deal from one metropolitan A second major disadvantage not be used very often. area to another (Chart 1). of the approach based on the The biggest drawback is probably For example, according to 2006 central municipality’s administrative the fact that the central municipality’s Census data, Calgary’s seven boundaries, in terms of sociological administrative boundaries can suburban municipalities accounted and geographic analysis of CMA provide an inaccurate picture of for only 8% of the CMA’s total populations, is that boundaries the forms of urban development in population. The same was true for the can change abruptly at any time, a CMA. In some CMAs, people who CMA of Winnipeg, where the suburban especially during municipal mergers live a dozen kilometres from the municipalities also made up only 9% or reorganizations. Neighbourhoods city centre, in neighbourhoods that of the CMA’s total population. The and localities that had long been have all the qualities of traditional situation was completely different considered suburbs can suddenly suburban neighbourhoods, are in the CMA of Vancouver, where 73% become part of the central munici- nevertheless residing in the central of the total population lived in the pality, even though there has been municipality. Conversely, in other suburban municipalities. no substantive change in their areas’ CMAs, people living only a few While the difference in the nature or their social and economic kilometres from the central business percentages provides some idea of ties to the centre. district, in very densely populated the extent of administrative fragmen- For example, the town of neighbourhoods, are regarded as tation in these metropolitan areas, Pierrefonds is now included in one of living in a suburban municipality. it tells us very little about the types the wards of the new municipality of The reason for these differences is of neighbourhoods in which Calgary Montréal, although it was considered that municipal history, and therefore and Winnipeg residents live compared an independent suburban municipality municipal administrative boundaries, with Vancouver residents. In addition, before the municipal mergers of vary substantially from CMA to CMA. comparing the central municipalities 2001. The same thing happened As a result, the percentage of the of the various CMAs can lead to to the Borough of East York in the CMA’s total population living in the serious misinterpretations if we fail CMA of Toronto: before 1998 it was a suburb and today it is an integral part of the central municipality. In Chart 1 Municipal administrative boundaries vary the Ottawa area, the former suburban substantially from CMA to CMA, so the municipalities of Kanata, Orléans, CST proportion of the population living in the Gloucester, Vanier and Rockcliffe are central municipality also varies a great deal now part of the central municipality. Of course, it is always possible that % of total population further municipal reorganizations will occur in the future, making the 92 91 distinction between central and Central municipality suburban municipalities even fuzzier Suburban municipalities than it is now. 73 72 71 69 Yet, despite these limitations (particularly from the perspective of 55 comparing CMAs), the distinction 51 49 between central and suburban 45 municipalities remains, for some purposes, the most pertinent and useful 31 27 28 29 way to present various statistics. It is important for decision-makers and policy-makers to have a variety of 8 9 demographic and socio-economic information about the population of their own municipality as well as Toronto Montréal Vancouver Ottawa Calgary Edmonton Québec Winnipeg adjacent municipalities. On the other hand, the approach Census metropolitan area (CMA) based on the administrative or political boundaries of the central Source: Statistics Canada, 2006 Census. municipality is probably not the

4 Canadian Social Trends Statistics Canada — Catalogue No. 11-008 most appropriate for studying certain Other geographers have argued This method, which has been social, demographic and economic that while central business districts used in a Statistics Canada study differences between suburban and have no formal boundaries, they can of employment and commuting in urban neighbourhoods. generally be identified from the clear CMAs,12 was selected because in the predominance of office space over various CMAs, the city hall of the Suburbs as zones outside the dwellings.8 There are also definitions central municipality is usually located city’s central core with more formal status; for example, where employment is concentrated A second approach to delineating the Charter of the City of Montréal, in the inner city (or at least very and categorizing the residential parts which establishes the municipality’s close to it) and the city’s historical of urban areas involves classifying legal status, explicitly delimits the centre. While it is difficult to identify neighbourhoods and localities on the central business district with specific the inner city’s most central point basis of whether they are part of the street names.9 (particularly when we are dealing with city’s central core (commonly known Nor is it much simpler to identify a number of CMAs, each of which is as the “inner city”) and perhaps how the second component of the inner different), it is safe to say that the far they are from the city’s central city, that is, the older neighbourhoods location of city hall is a very good core. In this approach, a locality, adjacent to the central business approximation.13 a neighbourhood or some other district. In some studies, older From that central point, we draw geographic entity situated outside neighbourhoods are defined as concentric rings of 0 to less than the core (or more than a specified those which have a large proportion 5 kilometres, 5 to 9 kilometres, and distance from the core) will be of dwellings built before a specific so on. The various neighbourhoods considered part of the suburbs. date (typically neighbourhoods with are then categorized according to But how do we delineate this many dwellings constructed before their distance from the census tract central core? Although there are 1946). The criteria for determining that contains the city hall of the several options, one in particular what constitutes a large proportion central municipality. The farther has been used by geographers in the of dwellings may vary from study to out we go, the more peripheral the past: it defines the city’s central core study.10 neighbourhoods are. as consisting of the central business This method of distinguishing Usually, new suburban areas area of the municipality that lends its between the suburbs and the inner with above-average population name to the CMA plus the adjacent city composed of the city centre and growth are in the most peripheral old residential neighbourhoods.4 the adjacent older neighbourhoods, zones of their CMA. However, it is In general, the central business however appealing it might be, will sometimes difficult to measure the district or business centre, espe- not be used in this series of articles. extent of such urban growth when cially in the largest CMAs, is the There are simply too many difficulties all we have is information about neighbourhood in which the bulk associated with establishing formal population growth in the various of the service sector activities are rules for defining the central business municipalities. As mentioned concentrated, particularly manage- district and the adjacent older previously, some CMAs have far ment, finance and business services.5 neighbourhoods in CMAs that differ more peripheral municipalities than More broadly, the city centre is the in history, size and geography.11 others, making the expansion seem neighbourhood that contains (or more pronounced or less pronounced used to contain in the case of those The city centre versus the depending on the way the region CMAs where other business centres peripheral neighbourhoods is divided administratively. Using have grown up on the periphery) The third approach, which was distance from the city centre as a the heaviest concentrations of selected for this series, is different criterion helps avoid some of those commercial and office activity in an from the previous one in that it does problems, because the classification urban area. not explicitly distinguish between the can remain constant over time. For However, there are no universal central business district, the older example, we can learn how many criteria for easily, clearly and precisely neighbourhoods and the suburbs. people in a particular CMA lived identifying and marking the inner Instead, it distinguishes between in a neighbourhood more than city boundaries of all CMAs in neighbourhoods and residential areas 20 kilometres from the city centre in Canada.6 For example, in a study of on the basis of their distance from 2006 compared with 2001. employment distribution in Canada’s a central location in the city centre. When we use the classification four largest CMAs, researchers iden- For the purposes of the series, that by neighbourhood distance from tified the central business district central location will be the census the city centre in this series, we will as consisting of all neighbourhoods tract (CT) containing the city hall of be discussing central neighbour- having a relatively large number of the central municipality. hoods in contrast to peripheral jobs and a relatively small number neighbourhoods: the greater the of residents.7

Statistics Canada — Catalogue No. 11-008 Canadian Social Trends 5 distance, the more peripheral the some subjects, it does conceal a high density when their housing neighbourhood. differences between the various types stock consists primarily of multiple One of the disadvantages of of neighbourhoods. Some central dwellings, condominiums, apartment this method is that there is wide neighbourhoods have features that buildings and row houses. These variation in the physical size of are much more typical of postwar dwelling types, especially apartment CMAs. For example, the total suburban neighbourhoods than of buildings, are all associated with area of the Toronto CMA is about traditional urban neighbourhoods: much higher population densities.18 5,900 square kilometres, compared they have low population density, We could have used what seems with 4,200 square kilometres for dwellings that are more typical of at first glance to be a more direct Montréal and 2,900 square kilometres suburbs, such as single houses, measure of neighbourhood (CT) for Vancouver. In contrast, Victoria and so on. Conversely – and this population density: the number encom passes just 700 square is becoming more common today of residents per square kilometre. kilometres, and Windsor about – some neighbourhoods that However, that measure would have 1,000 square kilometres. Hence, in are referred to as “suburban” or presented problems in a number of the largest CMAs, neighbourhoods peripheral neighbourhoods because situations. Some CTs cover a relatively that might be considered “central” they are some distance from the city large area, but only a small part of it may be more than 5 kilometres from centre have characteristics that are is residential; the rest may be taken the city centre. This is not likely to more traditionally associated with up by industries, natural barriers such be the case in small CMAs. central neighbourhoods: relatively as bodies of water, or other activities Similarly, the percentage of the high population density, multiethnic demanding lots of space like airports. population living within 5 kilometres population, rental housing, and Consequently, even if the population of the city centre will generally be so on.14 Increasing the diversity of density is fairly high in the residential greater in small CMAs than in very suburban areas by giving them some portion, the CT’s overall density may large CMAs such as Toronto or of the features of traditional urban be low, thereby presenting a skewed Montréal. In addition, the population neighbourhoods such as higher picture of its density level. will tend to appear more centrally density and mixed use is an important Using the proportion of all occupied concentrated in small CMAs. Lastly, objective of “new urbanism”, a major dwellings in a neighbourhood that are the concepts of central and peripheral trend in modern urban planning.15 single houses, semi-detached houses neighbourhoods will be subject to To take account of the present and and mobile homes to measure density constant revision: in some cities, future heterogeneity of peripheral avoids the methodological pitfall neighbourhoods that are considered and central neighbourhoods, we will associated with the simple estimate central today were regarded as introduce various distinctions based of population per square kilometre. peripheral when the cities started to on neighbourhood characteristics in The measure of density based on expand. Likewise, today’s peripheral this series. Because we are interested predominant housing type is not neighbourhoods may be viewed as in comparing neighbourhoods that influenced by the proportion of the central in a few years. have characteristics typical of modern CT that is truly residential. Moreover, Consequently, we need to exercise suburbs with neighbourhoods that in Canada and North America caution in interpreting the differences have features of more traditional generally, the presence of single between a CMA’s central and urban areas, population density and semi-detached houses in a peripheral neighbourhoods. Using will be one of the key criteria. Even neighbourhood is an important factor 5 kilometres as the width of the though some outlying areas have in differentiating between residential concentric rings is arbitrary, as apartment buildings and row houses, suburbs and more urban areas.19 any other distance would be. low population density is a very Nevertheless, as we will see later in important feature of most suburbs Examples of the use of density some actual examples, there are some of large Canadian cities.16 and distance to the city centre very good reasons for using distance Neighbourhood density can be to differentiate between from the city centre to identify and measured in a variety of ways. In neighbourhoods study the differences and similarities the metropolitan areas series, we To illustrate all the concepts between neighbourhoods in Canada’s will refer to a neighbourhood as low discussed above, we have prepared central metropolitan areas. density when at least two thirds of the eight maps using 2001 Census data occupied housing stock comprises (see Appendix) that can be updated Differentiating neighbourhoods single and semi-detached houses when all 2006 Census data are by density and dwelling types and mobile homes, that is, dwellings available. We have also prepared While classifying neighbourhoods that take up the most space or area eight data tables, which can be found by their distance from the city per occupant.17 Conversely, we will at www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/ centre may be useful in studying refer to neighbourhoods as having 11-008-XIE/2008001/article/10459- en.htm, to show how useful it is

6 Canadian Social Trends Statistics Canada — Catalogue No. 11-008 to be able to distinguish between Nearly half of Canadians in and the city centre. Almost one- neighbourhoods based on housing metropolitan areas live in low- third of Toronto residents lived in density and distance from the city density neighbourhoods neighbourhoods 25 kilometres or centre – at least with regard to the Table A.1 shows how the population of more from the central municipality’s distinctive features of the various CMAs is distributed across the various city centre (the CT containing types of neighbourhoods. types of CMA neighbourhoods. For Toronto’s city hall); the same was For demonstration purposes, we all CMAs combined, nearly half the true for only 11% of Ottawa-Gatineau created three density categories population in 2001 was living in low- residents and 3% of the residents based on the percentage of the density neighbourhoods, which are of Québec City. These differences neighbourhood’s dwellings that are most typical of postwar suburbs. in the proportion of people living single or semi-detached houses In contrast, only one person in five close to or far from the city centre or mobile homes. High-density was living in a more typically urban reflect not only the CMA’s history and neighbourhoods have less than 33.3% neighbourhood, which is composed size but also its unique geography. of this dwelling type; medium-density primarily of apartment buildings One obvious example is Toronto: neighbourhoods have between and other types of high-density being bounded to the south by Lake 33.3% and less than 66.6%; and low- housing. Ontario, no residential development density neighbourhoods have 66.6% However, the proportions varied is possible in that direction. or more. substantially from CMA to CMA. For The maps of Canada’s eight largest To separate neighbourhoods example, more than two-thirds of metropolitan areas (see Appendix) are by distance to the city centre, Calgary residents (67%) lived in low- particularly informative concerning we established six categories. density neighbourhoods, compared the density and distance indicators. Central neighbourhoods are less with only about one-third of Montréal They show that neighbourhood than 5 kilometres from the city residents (34%). population density generally declines centre. Other neighbourhoods are The differences between residents with distance from the city centre regarded as peripheral, with the most of the various CMAs are even (the city centre is marked with a star peripheral being 25 kilometres or more pronounced with respect to on the map). In other words, the more from the city centre. the distance between their home farther from the centre, the greater the proportion of single and semi- detached houses and mobile homes in the neighbourhood. The maps show that the correlation between low density and distance Why have three density categories and from the city centre is not entirely CST not five or six? perfect; in most large urban areas, some peripheral neighbourhoods have Most articles in this series will rely exclusively on survey data rather than census high residential density, and some data. Though this point may seem technical and of little consequence, it is central neighbourhoods have low density. To take this into account, we actually crucial. Statistics Canada’s social surveys have far fewer respondents can combine the density and distance than the Census: roughly 20,000 for the General Social Survey, compared with indicators into a single indicator the entire population of Canada for the “short” Census and more than 6 million that provides additional precision for the more detailed Census questionnaire. The advantage of survey data is (Table A.1).20 This composite indi- that they cover a wider variety of subjects than census data; their disadvantage cator is capable of differentiating is that compromises have to be made about the level of geographic detail that between neighbourhoods with the most typically urban features (high- can be published when presenting results. density central neighbourhoods) Consequently, it is impossible to generate CMA profiles using survey data and those that have two typically that are as detailed as the profiles that could be prepared with census data. suburban traits (peripheral and low One of the main reasons for using three groups to differentiate neighbourhoods density). by housing density (low, medium and high) is the importance of being able to Table A.2 uses this composite use the indicator with survey data. In the future, however, we may still conduct indicator to illustrate with data what the maps hinted at: that the majority analyses based on more detailed density categories when drawing on census of people (but not everyone) who data. The same logic applies to the categories for distance to the city centre live in neighbourhoods close to that we have selected. the city centre live in high-density neighbourhoods. This is true in

Statistics Canada — Catalogue No. 11-008 Canadian Social Trends 7 most large CMAs, and it is especially On the other hand, the proportion recent immigrants in medium- and evident in Montréal and Québec of seniors is higher in high-density high-density neighbourhoods is the City. In 2001, 93% of the people who neighbourhoods close to the city same no matter how far the neighbour- lived less than 5 kilometres from centre. For example, in Montréal, hood is from the city centre. In other the centre of Montréal and 80% of which has a higher percentage words, whether they live in the centre the people in Québec City’s central of renters than any other large or on the periphery of a CMA, recent neighbourhoods were living in high- metropolitan area in Canada, the immigrants have a greater tendency to density neighbourhoods. In contrast, proportion of seniors in high-density live in higher-density neighbourhoods the proportions were 59% for Ottawa- neighbourhoods was double that in than more established immigrants or Gatineau and 55% for Toronto. low-density neighbourhoods (16% non-immigrants. Conversely, people living in more compared with 8% in 2001). Some It is worth noting that in Toronto peripheral neighbourhoods tended elderly people, because of their more and Vancouver, distance from the city to be concentrated in low-density limited mobility, may have to live centre has no appreciable effect on neighbourhoods. In Vancouver, for in apartments where some services the proportion of recent immigrants, example, 53% of the people who were are more readily accessible. In except in neighbourhoods that are living 20 kilometres or more from addition, specialized hospitals tend 25 kilometres or more from the city the city centre were in low-density to be located in the most central centre; these more distant neighbour- neighbourhoods. In Toronto and neighbourhoods of large cities. hoods have a lower percentage of Montréal, the proportions were 72% recent immigrants. In contrast, the and 71%, respectively.21 University graduates live more proportion of recent immigrants in the city centre declines in neighbourhoods that The population of low-density In most CMAs, the proportion of are farther from the city centre in peripheral neighbourhoods is people with a university degree Montréal, Ottawa-Gatineau, Calgary different from the population is slightly higher in high-density and Edmonton. of high-density central central neighbourhoods. The neighbourhoods farther a neighbourhood is from the New dwellings are concentrated Geographers and sociologists who centre, the lower the proportion in low-density peripheral study cities have long known that of university graduates. These neighbourhoods people with similar characteristics differences between peripheral Data from the 2001 Census suggest tend to gather in the same types of and central neighbourhoods are that the majority of dwellings built neighbourhoods within the urban attributable in part to the fact that in the 1990s were constructed in space. This is reflected in census data the most highly skilled, highly paid peripheral neighbourhoods with in a number of ways (see Tables A.3 jobs are concentrated in the centres low population density (Table A.8). to A.8). of large cities.22 This fact is probably not a surprise Walking around the central neigh- since such neighbourhoods have bourhoods of large cities, one might Recent immigrants are more more land available that is suitable get the impression that most residents likely to live in high-density for residential developments, which are couples without children. That neighbourhoods means lower costs. It is nonetheless impression would not be wrong. For Recent immigrants, defined here interesting to note that 60% of all example, in Montréal in 2001, only as people who arrived in Canada new dwellings built between 1991 and 38% of households in high-density 10 years or less before the census 2001 were constructed in low-density central neighbourhoods had a child date, are heavily concentrated in neighbourhoods; the proportion was aged 18 or under. The corresponding medium-density and high-density as high as 88% in the CMA of Calgary. proportion was 58% in low-density neighbourhoods. For example, Clearly, urban development in large peripheral neighbourhoods at least in the CMA of Toronto in 2001, metropolitan areas continues to 20 kilometres from the city centre. 28% of residents in high-density follow a pattern of low density and This negative correlation between neighbourhoods were recent immi- distance from the city centre. the presence of young families and grants, compared with only 11% in Of course, the tables and maps the proximity of the city centre is low-density neighbourhoods. This is do not provide a complete picture even clearer in Table A.4. The table no surprise since many studies have of the different characteristics of shows that in Toronto, Montréal and shown that recent immigrants tend the populations in the various types Vancouver, the proportion of children to settle in neighbourhoods where of CMA neighbourhoods. The main aged 14 and under in neighbourhoods socio-economic status and housing purpose of this discussion was to close to the city centre was only costs are lower.23 show that all of the large CMAs about half that in the most peripheral According to the composite indi- exhibit similar patterns of population neighbourhoods. cator, the overrepresentation of distribution between neighbourhoods

8 Canadian Social Trends Statistics Canada — Catalogue No. 11-008 that are more typically urban (central, clearer when we address the various Summary and conclusion high-density) and neighbourhoods topics in the series. More generally, In the series of articles on life in that are more typically suburban the use of these classifications will metropolitan areas, we will rely (peripheral, low-density). The value of provide a more accurate picture of on the well-known geographic differentiating CMA neighbourhoods the extent to which the quality of life concepts of census metropolitan on the basis of the criteria developed of Canadians varies with the types of area and census tract as well as in this article will become much neighbourhoods in which they live. three major distinctions: central

Other possible approaches to classifying neighbourhoods and CMA zones CST as urban or suburban

In this article, we cannot discuss every imaginable approach urban core in the last 50 years. Depending on one’s objectives, to differentiating between suburban neighbourhoods and one could identify the initial suburbs as areas added to the more urban neighbourhoods. In some cases, we do not have urban core between 1951 and 1981, and the new suburbs as data for all Canadian census metropolitan areas (CMAs). areas added to the urban core since 1981. That is why we have discarded approaches that, although There is a chance that this methodology will be developed interesting from a theoretical standpoint, would be difficult and used in this series on metropolitan areas. For the moment, or even impossible to implement at the present time. For all we can do is point out that it exists. It is also worth noting example, we could devise a method of differentiating between that the method would be valid only for CMAs that existed neighbourhoods on the basis of the diversity of land use, 50 years ago and for which we know the boundaries of the that is, the degree to which residences, stores and places urban core in 1951. Generally speaking, these would be the of work coexist in a neighbourhood, instead of the sharp largest CMAs. separation of land uses based on predefined neighbourhoods Other features that can be used to differentiate that is typical of traditional suburbs subject to strict zoning neighbourhoods regulations.1 The problem with this approach is that for the In articles later in the series, we will be focusing on other moment at least, we have no source of uniform data that characteristics of neighbourhood populations. The main might provide information about the diversity of land use point behind presenting data from different perspectives is to for all neighbourhoods in all CMAs. enhance and complement the information available for CMAs Other ways proposed by experts for distinguishing as a whole. For some subjects, it may be that distance to the between urban and suburban include road configuration (a city centre is simply not a relevant indicator and that the grid structure typical of urban neighbourhoods, or curving analysis will only consider neighbourhoods’ socio-economic streets with dead-ends), proximity to or distance from daily or historical characteristics. shopping outlets (grocery stores, etc.), access to public 1. According to numerous studies and authors, the level of mixed transportation, and even residents’ perceptions of their usage in neighbourhoods could have an impact on the quality of 2 the environment, social vitality of the neighbourhood and public own neighbourhood as urban or suburban. Data that could health. The urbanist and economist Jane Jacobs probably made be used to measure these factors in every census tract in the most well-known argument for the positive effect of diversity Canadian CMAs simply do not exist. on the cohesion and vitality of urban neighbourhoods in the classic The Death and Life of Great American Cities. For examples of Finally, one more approach is worth mentioning. It has been studies that address the relationship between urban diversity, set aside (at least for now) not because there are no data but quality of the environment and public health, see Frumkin, H., Frank, L. and Jackson, R. (2004). Urban Sprawl and Public Health. because substantial research would have to be done before Washington: Island Press. it could be implemented. In this method, whose main ideas 2. Bagley, M.N., Mokhtarian, P.L. and Kitamura, R. (2002). A were formulated by an American geographer,3 the historical methodology for the disaggregate, multidimensional measurement of residential neighbourhood type. Urban Studies, 39(4), 689- urban centre of a CMA (the traditional urban neighbourhoods) 704. consists of the urban core before the period of intensive 3. Morrill, R.L. (1995). Metropolitan and Non-metropolitan Areas: suburbanization of urban populations began in about 1945. New Approaches to Geographical Definition. Dahmann, D.C. and Suburbs are the zones that have been added to that original Fitzsimmons, J.D. (eds.). Working paper no.12. Washington, D.C.: US Bureau of the Census.

Statistics Canada — Catalogue No. 11-008 Canadian Social Trends 9 CST Urban sprawl and urban growth

The primary aim of the articles in this series is not to urban expansion, a process by which the area of inhabited document the patterns of population growth or decline in land within a CMA increases as its population grows or as large urban areas. That information is available in other peripheral municipalities become part of the CMA because Statistics Canada publications.1 However, the idea that of stronger economic and social ties with the urban core. metropolitan areas grow and develop in different ways will The concept of urban expansion is not associated with a inform a number of articles in the series. For that reason, it particular form of urban development, as is often the case is worth exploring those concepts which, like suburb and city for the concept of urban sprawl. In some urban areas, new centre, are understood differently by different people. neighbourhoods may have a higher population density, Many experts and commentators, in North America greater diversity of land use and more extensive use of public at least, attribute a rather negative connotation to the transportation. In short, the concept of urban expansion may concept of urban or suburban sprawl.2 Even though there include both these forms of development and the forms of are many different points of view on the subject, urban development that are more typical of postwar urban sprawl sprawl is generally portrayed as a form of disorderly and in North America. Urban expansion generally goes hand in excessive urban expansion characterized by encroachment hand with urban population growth. on agricultural land, very high dependence on cars, and the 1. Statistics Canada. (2007). Portrait of the Canadian Population. development of new neighbourhoods with low population Catalogue no. 97-550-XIE. Ottawa: Minister of Industry. density and low land-use diversity with homes in some 2. See, for example, Bruegmann, R. (2005). Sprawl – A compact history. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. Also Brueckner, Jan 3 neighbourhoods and stores and services in others. K. (2000). Urban sprawl: Diagnosis and remedies. International The concept of urban sprawl will not be used much in Regional Science Review, 23(2), 160-171. this series, precisely because of the negative connotations 3. Duany A., Plater-Zyberk, E. and Speck, J. (2000). Suburban Nation – The Rise of Sprawl and the Decline of the American Dream. New York: associated with it. Instead, we will generally use the term North Point Press; Brueckner. (2000).

and peripheral neighbourhoods, municipalities in the CMA are this article. Notwithstanding the high-density and low-density suburban municipalities. form and content of this article, neighbourhoods, and central and Much has been said of the the ultimate aim of this series is suburban municipalities. fundamental differences between not methodological. Rather, it is We will define the most central urban and suburban neighbourhoods to shed new light on the quality of neighbourhoods as those which are or central and peripheral neighbour- life of the ever-growing numbers of close to the census tract where the hoods: different quality of life, clearly Canadians who live in the various city hall of the central municipality distinct socio-demographic and neighbourhoods of large urban is located, and the most peripheral economic profiles, differing values, areas. neighbourhoods as those which are and so on. Yet we seldom have solid farthest from that central location. data that could be used to determine CST High-density neighbourhoods whether these putative differences Martin Turcotte is a social will be neighbourhoods composed are myth or reality. And when such sciences researcher with Social of a high proportion of apartment data are available, we sometimes and Aboriginal Statistics Division, buildings or row houses. Low- have trouble distinguishing clearly Statistics Canada. density neighbourhoods will be between urban and suburban areas neighbourhoods in which most of because we lack clear definitions or the dwellings are single houses, semi- concepts for delineating them. 1. These localities have many different names: village, town, municipality, city, municipal detached houses or mobile homes. A key objective of this series is district, Indian reserve, parish, etc. We These are the most common types of to remedy these two deficiencies, sometimes refer to these geographic housing in postwar suburbs. first by using Statistics Canada’s entities as census subdivisions. The central municipality is different data sources to test different 2. Encyclopedia of Human Geography. the municipality that lends its hypotheses, and second by relying name to the CMA, and all other on the classifications presented in

10 Canadian Social Trends Statistics Canada — Catalogue No. 11-008 3. Parr, John B. (2007). Spatial definitions of 12. Heisz, A. and Larochelle-Côté, S. other words, “apartment buildings provide the city: four perspectives. Urban Studies, (2005). Work and Commuting in Census accommodation for almost as many 44(2), 381-392. Metropolitan Areas, 1996 to 2001. Statistics households as single family dwellings, but ” 4. Ley, D. and Frost, H. (2006). The inner Canada Catalogue no. 89-613-MWE. they occupy ten times less land. Source : city. Canadian cities in transition (3rd ed.) Ottawa: Minister of Industry. For an City of Ottawa, http://www.ottawa.ca/ (pp. 192-210). Don Mills: Oxford example of another study using a similar city_services/statistics/counts/land_use/ University Press; Broadway, M.J. and Jesty, approach based on distance to the city index_fr.html, (Accessed August 15, G. (1998). Are Canadian inner cities centre, see Boehm, T. and Ihlanfeldt, K. 2007.) (1991). The revelation of neighborhood becoming more dissimilar? An analysis 19. Researchers interested in the criteria that preferences: an n-chotomous multivariate of urban deprivation indicators. Urban determine whether a locality constitutes probit approach. Journal of Housing Studies, 35(9), 1423-1438. a suburb or not have often considered Economics, 1, 33-59. 5. Polèse, M. (1994). Économie urbaine et that one of the most important factors régionale – Logique spatiale des mutations 13. Note that we also could have used the was the low density of development, économiques. Paris: Economica. census tract with the most jobs in the typically indicated by single family homes central employment cluster to identify the or detached houses. See, for example, 6. Ley and Frost (2006). central location of the city centre (based Harris (2004). on the method used by Shearmur and 7. Shearmur, R. and Coffey, W.J. (2002). 20. This approach addresses some of the Coffey; see note 7). However, this method A tale of four cities: intrametropolitan concerns of researchers who think that would have produced very similar results employment distribution in Toronto, using a single criterion (density, diversity since the census tract containing the most Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa-Hull, or distance) to differentiate traditional employment in the city centre is generally 1981-1996. Environment and Planning from suburban neighbourhoods is very close to the census tract where the A, 34, 575-598. limiting and perhaps misleading because city hall for the central municipality is a neighbourhood could appear to be 8. Charney, I. (2005). Property developers located; in Montreal and Calgary, for urban along one dimension but more and the robust downtown: the case of example, the CT containing the city hall is suburban along another. For more details, four major Canadian downtowns. The adjacent to the CTs containing the highest see Bagley, M.N., Mokhtarian, P.L. and Canadian Geographer/Le Géographe concentration of employment. In certain Kitamura, R. (2002). A methodology canadien, 49(3), 301-312. cases, the CT of the city hall and the CT for the disaggregate, multidimensional 9. The Charter of Montreal is available of highest employment are one and the measurement of residential neighbourhood on the Government of Quebec same (the CMAs of Ottawa, Hamilton, type. Urban Studies, 39(4), 689-704. publications website at http://www. Halifax and Victoria, for example). 21. It is important to note that the category publicationsduquebec.gouv.qc.ca/accueil. 14. See, for example, Smith, P. J. (2006). of high-density neighbourhoods may fr.html. Suburbs. Canadian Cities in Transition include neighbourhoods where the density 10. See, for example, Bunting, Walks and (3rd)(pp. 211-233). Don Mills: Oxford of the population per square kilometre Filion. (2004). The uneven geography of University Press; Ray, B.K., Halseth, varies considerably depending on the housing affordability stress in Canadian G. and Johnson, B. (1997). The changing CMA. In the large CMAs like Toronto, metropolitan areas. Housing Studies, ‘face’ of the suburbs: issues of ethnicity Montreal and Vancouver, some high- 19(3), 361-393. They consider a and residential change in suburban density neighbourhoods are composed neighbourhood to belong to the urban Vancouver. International Journal of Urban of high-rise apartment buildings (mainly core if it contains 1.5 times more housing and Regional Research, 21(3), 75-99. downtown). In these cases, the level of built in 1946 or earlier, as compared to 15. Gordon, D. and Vipond, S. (2005). Gross population density per square kilometre the proportion of total housing in the density and new urbanism. Journal of the may not be comparable to those observed CMA. See also Walks, R.A. (2005). The American Planning Association, 71(1), elsewhere. In contrast, in the smaller city-suburban cleavage in Canadian 41-54. CMAs, high-density neighbourhoods federal politics. Canadian Journal of consist mainly of low-rise apartment Political Science, 38(2), 383-413. This 16. Harris, R. (2004). Creeping Conformity buildings. Consequently, caution must be author defines urban core neighbourhoods – How Canada became suburban. Toronto: exercised when comparing the population as contiguous neighbourhoods in areas Toronto University Press. of high-density neighbourhoods in the where the majority of housing was 17. It is important to note that mobile homes different CMAs. constructed before 1946. account for only a small minority of the 22. Heisz and Larochelle-Côté (2005). 11. This is especially true for certain housing stock. In 2001, only about 1% neighbourhoods where the decision to of all Canadians were living in a mobile 23. Massey, D. S. and Denton, N.A. (1985). classify them as part of the urban core home. Spatial assimilation as a socioeconomic or as suburbs would have to be made 18. For example, even though only 38% of outcome. American Sociological Review, on a case-by-case basis; for example, households in the city of Ottawa live 50, 94-106. neighbourhoods that are very centrally in a single family home, single family located but where the housing is of dwellings occupy 70% of residential land recent construction, meaning that they in the urban area. In contrast, apartment cannot formally be considered « old » buildings occupy only 7% of residential neighbourhoods. land but house 35% of households. In

Statistics Canada — Catalogue No. 11-008 Canadian Social Trends 11 Map 1 Percentage of single family, semi-detached or mobile homes by census tract (CT), CST 2001 — CMA of Toronto

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medium density

low density

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