L’émergence de la grappe industrielle de l'intelligence artificielle (IA) à Montréal

The paper analyses the emergence of the Artificial Intelligence (AI) cluster in Montreal and investigates two questions: (1) What are the different theoretical interpretations related to the emergence of industrial cluster? And (2) What are the factors underlying the emergence of the AI cluster in Montreal and to what extent have local and global factors been decisive in this respect? The AI cluster emerges through a process that brings into play the interaction between the local initial conditions and the birth of a new industry. Moreover, it also involves an interaction between the local and the global, which is supported by interactions with foreign actors located in different parts of the world.     

La représentation de l’espace public par la photographie : Une étude de cas dans la région de Montréal (Québec,Canada)

Beyond the material forms that constitute public space, it is subject to representations or images that shape the types of use, forms of appropriation, and general perception that people have of it. Following a centre‐periphery gradient that allows us to compare three zones of the Montreal region (pericentral, periurban, and the northern ring), we analyzed photographs available within cyberspace (from different municipalities and boroughs, local newspapers, and social media) to draw out representations of public space. What can photographs available online tell us about how space is perceived? We have established a typology of images of public space (idyllic nature, urban scene, festive space, empty space, family portrait) that are representative of the overall corpus studied. We have compared these results with a correspondence analysis to clarify the structure of interaction between the variables. The analysis demonstrates that the representations are more differentiated between neighbourhoods than between regions, and that while newspapers and municipalities represent more themes of sociability and family life, social media shows more empty spaces, whether they be monumental spaces, or spaces of daily life.     

Modélisation spatiale de la pauvretéà Montréal: apport méthodologique de la régression géographiquement pondérée

Spatial Modeling of Poverty in Montréal: Methodological Contribution of the Geographically Weighted Regression
The Island of Montréal is particularly concerned with the issue of poverty. In 2000, 29 percent of its inhabitants lived under the low income cut-offs as defined by Statistics Canada. However, poverty is not a homogeneous phenomenon at the intra-urban scale, and identifying and categorizing spaces of poverty has become a main concern for ongoing researches. According to this way of thinking, this paper proposes an analysis of the factors influencing the geographical distribution of poverty on the Island of Montréal. To be able to identify properly the various profiles of poverty, this analysis uses a specific methodology, the geographically weighted regression (GWR), and compares its results with the ones of a classical regression model. At the global level, the most important factors to explain poverty are in order: unemployment, lone-parent families, one person households, recent immigrants, part time or part year workers, school dropouts. At the local level,     

Julien Offray de la Mettrie (1709-1751)

The year 2001 marks the 250th anniversary of la Mettrie's death. This paper commemorates his stormy life and the contribution he made to the neurosciences. Trained as a physician, la Mattrie soon fell out with both the medical and ecclesiastical authorities and was exiled first to the Netherlands and then to Frederick the Great's circle of intellectuals at Sans Souci (Berlin). The two works which are of greatest interest to the readers of this journal are the 1745 Histoire Naturelle de l'ame (retitled Traité de l'ame in 1751) and the 1747 l'Homme Machine. Both are collected in the 1751 Oeuvres Philosophiques. This paper reviews these two ground-breaking tracts noting that, although they are both materialistic, and hence worthy of the odium theologicum into which they fell, they are not materialistic in the Cartesian sense. La Mettrie is dismissive of the Cartesian concept of inanimate matter and the related notion of the 'beast-machine'. Instead, he sees an unbroken continuity between humans and the rest of nature. His vision is in many ways far ahead of its time and prefigures some of the dilemmas and concerns which our evolutionary neuroscience presents today: how is consciousness related to the goings on in the cerebrum? How can we be held responsible for what we do if all is material? His biographer, Raymond Boissier, writes that we can recognise in him an obscure predecessor of Lamarck and a prophet of things to come.     

Julien Offray de la Mettrie (1709-1751)

The year 2001 marks the 250th anniversary of la Mettrie’s death. This paper commemorates his stormy life and the contribution he made to the neurosciences. Trained as a physician, la Mattrie soon fell out with both the medical and ecclesiastical authorities and was exiled first to the Netherlands and then to Frederick the Great’s circle of intellectuals at Sans Souci (Berlin). The two works which are of greatest interest to the readers of this journal are the 1745 Histoire Naturelle de l’âme (retitled Traité de l’âme in 1751) and the 1747 l’Homme Machine. Both are collected in the 1751 Oeuvres Philosophiques. This paper reviews these two ground-breaking tracts noting that, although they are both materialistic, and hence worthy of the odium theologicum into which they fell, they are not materialistic in the Cartesian sense. La Mettrie is dismissive of the Cartesian concept of inanimate matter and the related notion of the ‘beast-machine’. Instead, he sees an unbroken continuity between humans and the rest of nature. His vision is in many ways far ahead of its time and prefigures some of the dilemmas and concerns which our evolutionary neuroscience presents today: how is consciousness related to the goings on in the cerebrum? How can we be held responsible for what we do if all is material? His biographer, Raymond Boissier, writes that we can recognise in him an obscure predecessor of Lamarck and a prophet of things to come.     

Une méthode illustrée pour la sectorisation morphodynamique de la rivière Neigette (Québec)

An illustrated methodology for the morphodynamic sectoring of the Neigette River (Québec) Fluvial hydrogeomorphology is little recognized in policy management and planning in Québec. A better understanding would result in more enlightened planning for waterways. The deficiency could result from the fact that too few methodologies have been developed that take account of the particular nature of Québec rivers. This study tests the applicability of a methodology of dividing rivers into homogeneous morphodynamic units. This compartmentalization results from the analysis of longitudinal changes in stream power, sedimentary composition of the banks, channel entrenchment, and planform geometry. The method is tested on a section of the Neigette River, which encompasses a wide variety of forms and processes frequently found in Québec rivers. Results suggest the presence of three morphodynamic sections: wandering with multiple channels, dynamic meandering and stable meandering. The method provides an effective basis for discriminating between these morphodynamic environments and their respective limits. Stream power is the variable with the greatest discriminating capacity. The efficacy of the approach, the ease of its application, and its flexibility make this a valuable tool for the management of fluvial environments.     

La mise en forme d'un pôle de haute technologie en proche banlieue: d'un aménagement fonctionnaliste à un urbanisme de créneau.Le cas de Saint-Laurent dans la région métropolitaine de Montréal

De nouvelles formes de développement sont privilégiées dans certains espaces de la proche banlieue des principales métropoles canadiennes. Cette évolution est liée à la maturation de ces espaces sur le plan économique. Par l'étude d'un cas représentatif de cette maturation économique à l'échelle métropolitaine de Montréal, l'arrondissement de Saint-Laurent, nous mettons en valeur l'évolution des stratégies d'aménagement des acteurs du développement pour les deux principales phases de développement du territoire (1950–1980 et 1980–2000). Nous relions l'évolution sur le plan économique du cas étudié et les stratégies d'aménagement des acteurs du développement en nous référant à la thèse de la régulation. Par une méthode de collecte de données de type qualitatif basée sur une analyse documentaire et l'usage d'entretiens avec les acteurs du développement (du secteur privé et municipal), nous comparons les pratiques d'aménagement pour les deux périodes étudiées. En faisant appel à la distinction entre le fordisme et le post-fordisme pour caractériser la maturation économique, nous concluons que l'évolution sur le plan morphologique du territoire est marquée par le passage d'un aménagement fonctionnaliste à un urbanisme de créneau.