Declining and Stigmatized: An Analysis of French and Canadian Left-Behind Places

The world’s economy is changing at a rapid rate. Resources and population growth are becoming concentrated in a small number of larger cities, while other cities have become “left behind”. The dissatisfaction of living in poorer economic conditions and the resentment toward economically successful cities, has prompted resident political discontent. Left-behind places are also prone to spatial stigmatization, which refers to the way people are devalued and poorly treated due to the places they are associated with, and can affect the way residents and local decision-makers view their surrounding environment. The objectives of this study are to determine the geography of left-behind places in Canada and France, analyze policy interventions in left-behind places to identify how they address left-behindness, and examine the visual transformation of downtown cores in Canadian and French left-behind places. The proposed project will benefit the participating institutions by creating short-term and long-term collaboration opportunities between researchers, as well as opportunities for research dissemination in peer-reviewed journals and international conferences. Furthermore, this study will assess the similarities and differences between left-behind places in Canada and France, informing recommendations which contribute to a better understanding of these places in local, regional, and national level policies.

Faculty Supervisor:

Maxwell Hartt

Student:

Partner:

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)

Discipline:

Sociology

Sector:

Public Service, Policy, and Governance

University:

Queen's University

Program: