Environment and Economy This page intentionally left blank Environment and Economy Essays on the Human Geography of Alberta edited by B. M. Barr P. J. Smith Pica Pica Press First published by The Pica Pica Press (Textbook division of The University of Alberta Press) Athabasca Hall Edmonton, Alberta Canada T6C 2E8 Copyright © The Pica Pica Press 1984 ISBN 0-88864-042-0 Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data Main entry under title: Environment and economy Bibliography: p. ISBN 0-88864-042-0 1. Anthropo-geography - Alberta - Addresses, essays, lectures. 2. Alberta - Economic conditions - Addresses, essays, lectures. I. Barr, Brenton M., 1940- II. Smith, P.J. (Peter John), 1931- GF512.A4E58 1984 304.2'097123 C84-091034-7 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior permission of the copyright owner. Typesetting by The Typeworks, Vancouver, British Columbia Printed by Hignell Printing Limited, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada For Peggy, Elane, and John, for their contributions to the geography of Alberta. 6. M. B. To the memory of Sidney Charles Smith, 1899-1984. P.j.S. This page intentionally left blank Contents Contributors ix Preface xi Acknowledgments xiii Introduction General Themes and Concepts xv B.M. Barr and P.J. Smith Part 1 People, Time, and Space 1 1 The Emergence of Alberta as a Geopolitical Entity 5 Robert Stamp 2 The Changing Structure of the Settlement System 16 P.J. Smith 3 Population Characteristics and Trends 36 Leszek A. Kosihski Part 2 Environment, Land, and Resources 57 4 Biophysical Constraints of the Natural Environment on Settlement 61 L. D. Cordes and D.J. Pennock 5 Resources and Resource-Use Conflict 79 Edgar L. Jackson and Anne D. Dhanani 6 Rural Alberta: Elements of Change 95 R.G. Ironside Part 3 The Industrial-Urban Economy 111 7 Transportation and Communications: The Infrastructure of Economic Geography 115 Nigel M. Waters VIII 8 The Industrial Economy: Locational Patterns and Spatial Relationships 136 B.M. Barr 9 The Economic Role of Public Employers in the Urban Communities 154 Patrick G. Cadden 10 The Transactional Environment: Quaternary and Quinary Industry 167 Elizabeth S. Szplett Contributors Dr. B.M. Barr Professor, Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. Dr. P.G.Cadden Research Officer, Alberta Municipal Affairs, Edmonton, Alberta. Dr. L. D. Cordes Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. Mrs. A. D. Dhanani Tripoli, Libya. Dr. R.G. Ironside Professor and Chairman, Department of Geography, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. Dr. E. L.Jackson Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. Dr. L. A. Kosihski Professor, Department of Geography, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. Mr. D.J. Pennock Doctoral Candidate, Department of Geography, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. Dr. P.J. Smith Professor, Department of Geography, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta. Dr. R. Stamp Educational Consultant, Toronto, Ontario. Dr. E. S.Szplett Lecturer, Department of Geography, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario. Dr. N.M. Waters Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta. This page intentionally left blank Preface The essays in this collection are all original, and all were written with one purpose in mind: to introduce the major characteristics of Alberta's eco- nomic geography to a wide audience. Although they are particularly de- signed for survey courses in the geography of Alberta at the college or university level, they are also intended as basic reading for anyone interested in the changes at work in Alberta's economic landscape. The authors address important topics in these essays: where people live and why; how they have organized this territory of theirs, the province of Alberta; and the influence of the host of factors by which the landscape is constantly being reshaped in- cluding relations between man and the physical environment, perceptions of natural resources, cultural attitudes and personal expectations, demographic trends, and economic and political conditions, both at home and abroad. With this general end in view, the authors have aimed to present their ideas in a form that can be easily understood. Technical language has been kept to a minimum and special terms are always defined. There are many maps and tables, but we have tried to keep them clear and simple, and the text is not overburdened with statistical analyses. The authors have also for- gone the usual trappings of scholarly writing. There are very few footnotes or quotations, and no citations or lengthy bibliographies or elaborate descrip- tions of research methods. All the essays are based on detailed, up-to-date research, and incorporate results that may have been presented elsewhere in theses or scientific papers, but the emphasis here is upon general insights and broad interpretations. By the same token, all the essays had to be kept brief, and none of the con- tributors could develop their topics in the depth they would have liked. Sug- XI xii ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY gestions for further reading are therefore appended to each chapter, although it is remarkable how little of general interest has been written about the geog- raphy of Alberta. Had it been otherwise, of course, the need for this book would have been less pressing. As it is, we hope our essays will open the door to the narrower and more specialized literature that certainly exists —in scientific journals, in research monographs, and in the reports of numerous government agencies. The Environment Council of Alberta (previously the Environment Conservation Authority) is a particularly valuable source, partly because its reports are intended to have a wide distribution, and partly be- cause of the variety of man-environment relationships into which the Coun- cil has inquired. There are also a number of useful reference works that should be available in most libraries. Two that have been drawn upon freely by the authors in this book are Industry and Resources, a regular publication of the Govern- ment of Alberta, and the Atlas of Alberta, which was compiled as a cen- tennial project by the University of Alberta. Industry and Resources is a sta- tistical handbook, but it also includes numerous maps and a straightforward text, and its contents are revised periodically. The Atlas, by contrast, is now outdated in much of its statistical information, though it continues to be an invaluable resource for all that. It lays out the basic geographical patterns of Alberta with a thoroughness and completeness that no book can rival. In- deed, only one book fits the needs of this list of general references. That is Alberta: A Natural History, edited by W. G. Hardy and first published in 1967. In its overview of the basic elements of the natural environment, and in its detailed descriptions of the regional ecosystems, this book is still the outstanding source on Alberta's physical geography. Acknowledgments The editors and authors wish to record their appreciation for the practical assistance and support which were so freely given by the departments of geography at the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary. Many people have contributed in many ways, but two deserve particular mention: Fran Metcalfe, who typed the complete manuscript more times than she would care to remember, and Inge Wilson, of the Cartography Laboratory at the University of Alberta, whose superb draftsmanship can be seen in every figure. The authors of Chapter 5 also wish to note their special thanks for the help given by Linda Jackson and Paul Precht. XIII This page intentionally left blank Introduction General Themes and Concepts B.M. Barr PJ. Smith The people of Alberta are spread unevenly across the province's huge terri- tory. At one extreme, three out of every five Albertans live in just two places, the cities of Edmonton and Calgary. At the other extreme, over thousands upon thousands of square kilometres, scarcely a person is to be found. In these simple facts rests the fundamental problem for human geographers: to explain how and why such variation can occur. Is it just a matter of physical environment? Are some areas naturally poor and inhospitable while others are full of richness and invitation? Is there some distinctive form or pattern in the way that Albertans have distributed themselves across the space that is Alberta? If there is a pattern, what organizing principles lie behind it? Are there general processes shaping the pattern, processes that affect a much larger stage than Alberta alone? Or is Alberta, in some vital sense, unique? Directly or indirectly, these questions are addressed repeatedly throughout this book. They also relate back to a single geographical concept which underlies every essay—the concept of the space-economy, or the spatial or- ganization of economic activity. The central idea is that all people in all places at all times practice some form of economic activity which provides them with their livelihood, or their means of maintaining life. This does not necessarily mean that they will labour on farms or in factories, or even that they will hold jobs in the conventional sense. But it does mean that every- one, everywhere, must have some kind of economic support, "economic" being defined in its broadest terms as the "production, distribution and use of income, wealth and commodities." It also follows that all economic activities are set in geographical space, in two senses. First, each activity must use or occupy its own unique space; it has a site or absolute location. Second, and much more important to human xv xvi ENVIRONMENT AND ECONOMY geographers, all economic activities depend on complex interrelationships which cause them to be linked together in equally complex spatial systems.