Social integration on the Upper Canadian frontier: elements of community in Essex County 1790–1850

Individuals settling new areas have had to rely on a variety of resources, including the social structures inherent in their culture. This study focuses upon the elements of family, kinship and origin in part of nineteenth-century Ontario. It approaches them from the perspectives of interaction over distance and of sociological institution, the particular institution being that of land conveyancing. Data drawn from the surviving parts of the personal and agricultural schedules of the Census of Canada for 1851/52 were searched for the propinquity of individuals to one another. Social interaction seems to have occurred within two miles for most people. Random samples and a series of t-tests suggest that there were no differences in proximity for the members of the different cultural groups but that there were differences between immigrant and established groups with respect to the desires of kin for proximity to one another. These differences were paralleled by differences in the structure of the family. Kinship was also important in determining to whom land was sold; most sales occurred within the particular community. That this was so suggests, according to the model of Steeves, that the level of integration in mid-century Essex was simply embryonic.     

Investigating self-reported food allergy prevalence in Waterloo Region,Canada

While food allergy prevalence has been studied at the national level, we know little of food allergy prevalence or perceptions of prevalence/management at the local level. This paper uses Waterloo Region as a case study to 1) document self-reported individual and household food allergy and sensitivity prevalence at the local level; 2) investigate perceptions of food allergy prevalence; and 3) explore perceived confidence in anaphylaxis management. Survey data were collected from January to March 2019. Respondents (n = 500) self-reported individual and household food allergy and sensitivity, estimated the percentage of Canadians with food allergy, and were queried about their knowledge of food allergy management. Prevalence estimates were weighted to the structure of the 2016 Canadian Census, and univariate and bivariate analysis were conducted. Prevalence of self-reported food allergy was 12.1% (95%CI, 8.8%-15.3%), and prevalence of self-reported food sensitivity was 26.3% (95%CI, 21.9%-30.7%). When asked to estimate the percentage of Canadians with food allergy, the mean perceived percentage was 35.1% (SD = 22.96). Self-reported prevalence of food allergy appears higher in Waterloo Region, and the estimated percentage of Canadians with food allergy is inflated. Understanding prevalence and perceptions at the local level is important for targeted allocation of public health resources to ensure safe spaces for individuals with food allergy.     

Exploring the associations between cooling centre accessibility and marginalization in Montreal,Toronto, and Vancouver,Canada

Cooling centres provide respite, safety, and social support during extreme heat events for populations that do not have the resources to own or operate in-home air conditioning. The objective of this study was to measure the spatial accessibility of cooling centres and analyze the associations between cooling centre access and marginalization in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, Canada. The potential spatial accessibility of cooling centres within a 15-minute walk was measured at the dissemination area scale using the two-step floating catchment area method. A two-stage modelling approach was used to analyze the associations between cooling centre access and marginalization. Approximately 62%, 58%, and 54% of the populations in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver had access to at least one cooling centre. In Montreal and Vancouver, high marginalization areas were more likely to have cooling centre access than low marginalization areas. Of the areas with cooling centre access, smaller access scores were observed in areas with high residential instability. Approximately one-fifth of the areas in each city had no cooling centre access and high marginalization, and may be considered for future cooling centres or programs that improve accessibility to existing centres.     

Book Reviews

Technopoles of the World: The Making of 21st Century Industrial Complexes. M. Castells and P. Hall. London, Routledge, 1994, x + 275 pp, £45.00 hb, ISBN 0 415 10014 3, £14.99 pk, ISBN 0 415 10015 1 pb.

Transport and Communications Innovation in Europe. G. Giannopoulos and A. Gillespie (Eds). London, Belhaven Press, 1993, xii + 369 pp, £42.00 hb, ISBN 1 85293 269 4.

The Argumentative Turn in Policy Analysis and Planning. F. Fisher and J. Forester (Eds). London, UCL Press, 1993, 327pp, £14.95, pb, ISBN 1 85728 183 7.

Regional Development in the 1990s. The British Isles in Transition. P. Townroe and R. Martin (Eds). London, Jessica Kingsley Publishers and Regional Studies Association, 330pp, £22.50 pb, ISBN 1 85302 139 3.

Urban Land and Property Markets in France. R. Acosta and V. Renard. London, University College Press, 1993, 166pp, £40.00 hb, ISBN 1 85728 050 4.     

Models of Space Searching in Urban Areas

City dwellers occasionally must seek jobs, dwellings, or particular services or goods. Two very different ways exist by which the individual may conduct such a search. Lacking prior information, the person may elect to visit perceived possible locations until an appropriate one is found. Alternatively, an address may first be ascertained and then visited by finding a path to it. Clearly, there is a substantial difference between these two methods in terms of the amount of spatial movement they require in order to satisfy the searcher's needs. In this paper, this difference is modeled for situations that vary in terms of the density of acceptable end points of the search, as well as in characteristics of the signs of these end points, their patterns, and the level of information with which the searcher may begin.     

Privacy and False Identification Risk in Geomasking Techniques

Recent years have seen an increase in location privacy research, including the application of geomasking procedures. Geographical masks aim to protect privacy and preserve spatial information through the displacement of point data. False identification, or the mistaken association of data with the incorrect person or household, is an unexplored issue in geomasking, despite legal protections against false association. This study introduces a topological framework for assessing identification risk and examines the risk of false identification in four masking techniques: random perturbation, donut masking, and the newer Voronoi and MGRS masking techniques. While Voronoi masking is found to best preserve the clustering properties of a sample of urban foreclosure data, the other three masking techniques result in better protection against correct and false identification.