Compiling a Geographic Database to Study Environmental Injustice in Montréal: Process, Results, and Lessons

Abstract

Environmental injustice is a concept that emerged out of the social impacts of environmental degradation within the United States during the early 1980s. In the U.S., environmental injustice is frequently tied to race while in Canada and internationally, more attention has been paid to the correlations between income and environmental hazards. This chapter presents a pedagogical project that aimed to assess the degree and structure of environmental injustice in the city of Montréal, Canada. To reach this goal, a group of graduate students in a course entitled “GIS for Environmental Impact Assessment” (ENVS 663) at Concordia University, Montréal, gathered data on a large variety of socio-economic, health and environmental factors on the Island of Montréal and then attempted to spatially analyze whether there are local areas that suffer heightened risk for environmental injustices. Several neighbourhoods were noted as at risk in these studies, which points to a need for greater research and investigation into the levels of disparity in Montréal and the impacts that pollutants may have on the Island’s most at-risk residents. Through this process students were also exposed to the multiples problems associated with the development of a comprehensive and relevant database in order to study complex environmental issues. Students were able to overcome some of these problems and to collectively compile a database that served as a point of departure for organizing an international workshop entitled ‘Mapping’ Environmental Issues in the City: Arts and Cartography Cross-Perspectives.