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Analyzing the impact of urban planning on population distribution in the Montreal metropolitan area using a small-area microsimulation projection model

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Abstract

The objective of this paper was to project the population of the Montreal Metropolitan Community’s municipalities over the 2006–2031 period and assess the effects of changes to urban planning on the expected spatial distribution of the population. For this purpose, we develop a microsimulation model that performs small-area population projections at a municipal level. This model, called local demographic simulations, takes into account local contextual variables such as the expected number of new housing units to be built. We then compare the results from three scenarios with different constraints on the planned residential development of municipalities. We show that although urban sprawl cannot be avoided, increasing the development potential of the central area can slow it. Results also suggest that the age structure of the central area is not significantly affected by different mobility patterns.

Résumé

L’objectif de cet article est de projeter la population des municipalités de la Communauté Métropolitaine de Montréal pour la période 2006–2031 et de mesurer l’effet de changements dans les plans de développement urbain sur la distribution future de la population. À cet effet, nous avons développé un modèle de microsimulation qui effectue des projections locales à l’échelle des municipalités. Ce modèle, nommé Local Demographic Simulations (LDS), prend en considération des variables contextuelles locales telles que le nombre de nouveaux logements construits. Nous comparons les résultats de trois scénarios ayant différentes contraintes relatives au développement résidentiel planifié des municipalités. Nous montrons que malgré le fait que l’étalement urbain puisse difficilement être contré, il pourrait être ralenti en augmentant le potentiel de développement des zones centrales. Les résultats suggèrent également que la structure par âge de la ville centre n’est pas affectée par les différentes dynamiques de mobilité.

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Notes

  1. The MM is the administrative entity of the metropolitan area of Montreal, which is located in the province of Québec in Canada. It counts about 3.6 million inhabitants in 2006 distributed in 82 municipalities. For the purpose of the projection, three municipalities have, however, been aggregated with an adjacent municipality because of their small population size.

  2. County-like political entities.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. INRS – Centre Urbanisation Culture Société, 385 rue Sherbrooke Est, Montreal, QC, H2X 1E3, Canada

    Guillaume Marois & Alain Bélanger

Authors
  1. Guillaume Marois
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  2. Alain Bélanger
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Correspondence to Guillaume Marois.

Appendices

Appendix 1

See Table 5.

Table 5 Assumptions on the number of new housing units
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Appendix 2

See Table 6.

Table 6 Results of simulations and population estimates
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Appendix 3

See Fig. 4.

Fig. 4
figure 4

Relative differences in projected populations in 2031, scenario B compared to scenario A

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Appendix 4

See Fig. 5.

Fig. 5
figure 5

Relative differences in projected populations in 2031, scenario C compared to scenario A

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Marois, G., Bélanger, A. Analyzing the impact of urban planning on population distribution in the Montreal metropolitan area using a small-area microsimulation projection model. Popul Environ 37, 131–156 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11111-015-0234-7

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