Metropolitan and urban development, with its characteristic urban sprawl, loss of agricultural and forest land, and central city renewal, has repercussions on the environment, on local and regional governance and management methods, and on community and regional prosperity.
Understanding how spaces are being transformed at different scales, from neighbourhood to regional, at a time when urbanization is intensifying and the urban lifestyle is gaining traction worldwide is of vital importance to sustainable urban and regional development.
Research in the field of urban and regional dynamics helps us understand how spaces are being transformed at different levels, from neighbourhood to regional, at a time when urbanization is intensifying and the urban lifestyle is gaining traction worldwide.
Metropolitan and urban development, with its characteristic urban sprawl, loss of agricultural and forest land, and central city renewal, has repercussions on the environment, on local and regional governance and management methods, and on community and regional prosperity.
Our research teams analyze public policies and practices adopted by stakeholders, with a special emphasis on municipal strategies for adapting to climate change, strategies to reduce sociospatial inequalities, transportation methods and their effects on urban communities and vulnerable groups, and new forms of urban democracy and innovative municipal policies.
Issues our researchers are working on include cities and the new relationship between central cities and suburbs, the transformation of neighbourhoods: new players, new inequalities, municipalities and the challenge of sustainable development, ad shared spaces and superdiversity: uncertainties and new sociabilities.
A city for all
This research priority provides faculty with an opportunity to analyze and gain a better understanding of: social exclusion and inclusion processes (vulnerable groups, social and cultural differences), trajectories of neighbourhoods in transition (gentrification, urban decline), relationships between central cities and suburbs (urban sprawl), and housing policies and governance structures.
Governance and sustainability
This research priority provides an opportunity to analyze and better understand: the environmental issues and challenges faced by contemporary societies, urban sustainability (heat islands, green spaces, the fight against GHGs), political and economic environments, municipal structures, and methods for managing cities.
Insecurity, mobility and political action
Democracy, representations and territory
Health and geographic information systems
Urban sociology and immigration
Training openings for students or interns
Stéphane Guimont MarceauIndigenous territories and citizenships
Local public finances
Housing and habitat
Planning, urban history and built environment
Training openings for students or interns
Magalie Quintal MarineauCritical approaches to Nordic development
Urban Development
Training openings for students or interns
Diane Saint-PierreAnalysis and management of cultural policies and heritage;
Environmental justice
Training openings for students or interns
Mircea VulturYoung people, work and professional integration
Economic integration of immigrants
