Fluctuations in land values in a rural municipality in southern Québec, Canada

The agro-forested region of the Haut-St-Laurent, in southwestern Québec, in Canada, has served as a laboratory for several years to a multi-disciplinary research team seeking to understand the interplay of stakeholders and processes influencing the rural space of southern Québec. Following directly in the footsteps of previous research, this study was undertaken to analyze the hitherto neglected but important aspect of fluctuations in land values with respect to geomorphology and land use, during the 1958–1997 period. A geo-referenced database was built within an object-oriented geographic information system (GIS) that includes data from the sale of parcels of land within the study area, land registry maps, land use maps, and a geomorphological map. These data were analyzed and sorted through queries addressed to the database. Finally, a statistical analysis was performed to analyze the relationship between sale price, geomorphology and indirectly land use, for the entire study period and for each of its decades. The results show that land value has increased at different times during the past, according to its geomorphological type and land use. These relationships are explained by the important transformation phases that have affected southern Québec during the second half of the twentieth century.     

LES DUNES DU QUEBEC MERIDIONAL: CONTRIBUTION A L'ETUDE DES VENTS DOMINANTS DURANT L'HOLOCÈNE

Les données disponibles sur 67 sites de dunes au Québec méridional ont permis d'esquisser l'histoire des vents dominants durant l'Holocène. En se basant sur la chrono-logie du recul du front glaciaire et sur la régression des mers postglaciaires, il apparaǐt que le régime des vents fut relativement stable entre 11000 et 7500 ans bp, bien qu'entre 9500 et 8500 ans bp la plaine au sud du Saint-Laurent ait connu un épisode pendant lequel la provenance des vents dominants était changeante. La provenance des paléovents dominants montre les měmes variations régionales que celle des vents actuels. Ainsi, indépendamment de leur ǎge, les paléovents dominants provenaient du NE dans la plaine sud du Saint-Laurent, de l'O et du NE sur le rebord des Laurentides, de l'O, du SO, du NO et du N au Lac-Saint-Jean et de l'O à l'OSO sur la Cǒte-Nord du Saint-Laurent. Les vents qui ont édifié les dunes provenaient d'une circulation d'air anticyclonique provoquée par le retrait de l'Inlandsis laurentidien. Available data on the sand dunes of southern Quebec has permitted the historic reconstitution of prevailing wind patterns during the Holocene. From age data derived from the chronology of glacial front retreat and postglacial sea recession, it appears that the wind regime was relatively stable between 11000 and 7500 years bp, although during the period between 9500 and 8500 bp, the plain located south of the St. Lawrence underwent an episode during which the direction of the dominant winds was variable. The direction of the prevailing winds during the latter period shows the same regional variations as the actual winds. Thus, regardless of their age, the prevailing winds at that time were from the NE in the southern plain of the St. Lawrence, from the W and NW in the Laurentian foothills, from the W, SW, NW and N in the Lac-Saint-Jean area, and from the W to WSW for the North Shore of the St. Lawrence. Winds which produced the dunes came from anticyclonic circulation induced by the retreat of the Laurentide Ice Sheet.     

Constructions of Australia in pro‐ and anti‐asylum seeker political discourse

ABSTRACT. Whilst there has been a proliferation of research on the role of nationalism in the exclusion of asylum seekers, less attention has been paid to how nationalism can be mobilised in accounts opposing, rather than supporting, harsh anti‐asylum seeker regimes. This paper compares the ways in which ‘Australia’ is constructed and used in parliamentary speeches on asylum seekers by both refugee advocates and those seeking harsher asylum seeker laws in Australia. This dual focus is particularly important as it highlights the flexibility of nationalist discourse, in that the same constructions of the nation may be used for both exclusive and inclusive purposes. Whilst typologies of inclusive and exclusive nationalisms, such as Smith's (1991) ethnic/civic typology, focus on the content of nationalist ideologies, we argue that the inclusivity or exclusivity of nationalism can best be determined by examining the subject positions, political solutions and social realities they make possible, and who these discourses benefit and oppress.     

OPTIMISATION DU TRACÉ D'UN CORRIDOR ROUTIER DANS LA RÉGION DU RIF AU MAROC DANS LE CONTEXTE DE LA LIAISON FIXE EUROPE-AFRIQUE À L'AIDE D'UN SIG

Cet article décrit une méthodologie basée sur l'utilisation d'un système d'information géographique (SIG) pour l'identification d'un corridor routier optimal dans la région du Rif au Maroc. L'optimisation a été réalisée en appliquant l'approche de propagation de l'onde frontale sur une surface de coûts cumulés en utilisant la pente comme contrainte dominante. Différents tests ont ensuite été réalisés afin de vérifier la faisabilité du corridor en fonction des caractéristiques physiographiques de la région de même que son efficacitéà contribuer au désenclavement du Rif, à mettre en valeur ses potentialités économiques et à améliorer le transit international de l'Europe vers l'Afrique du Nord. Les résultats obtenus ont permis de démontrer l'intérêt de construire une rocade autoroutière à travers le Rif. Les fonctions d'intégration de données multi-sources, d'analyse spatiale et de cartographie d'un SIG se sont révélées particulièrement efficaces pour ce genre d'étude qui peut être généralisée à d'autres contextes. This paper describes the use of a Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify an optimal corridor for the construction of a highway in the Rif region, in Morocco. The optimization is based on the front wave propagation approach, where slope was used as the dominant constraint. Different tests were conducted to verify the feasibility of the corridor in relation to the physiographic characteristics of the region and its efficiency in enhancing the economic potential of the Rif and in facilitating the international traffic between Europe and North Africa. The results demonstrated the numerous advantages of building a highway along the Mediterranean Sea. The analytical functions of a GIS, for the integration of multisource data, spatial analysis, and cartography, were particularly efficient in conducting a study like this, which can be adapted to other contexts.     

‘We’re moving out’: Youth Out‐Migration Intentions in Coastal Non‐Metropolitan New South Wales

This article discusses youth out‐migration on the non‐metropolitan New South Wales Eastern Seaboard. High levels of in‐migration and counter‐urbanisation, typical of many coastal non‐metropolitan towns in NSW, mask the out‐migration of youth. There are relatively few 15–24 year olds in the coastal communities of non‐metropolitan New South Wales, because many youths out‐migrate to larger centres, for a range of reasons. Out‐migration also demarcates a life transition away from school life, adolescence and the parental home. This paper draws from research with senior high school students in one coastal town – Coffs Harbour – where such trends have been particularly apparent. It examines the propensity for youth out‐migration and discusses how young people articulate their migration intentions. Young people's perceptions of their current and future prospects feature prominently in their discourses about intended migration, although this research also demonstrates that the life courses of regional youth are unorthodox and diverse in nature.