Concordia University
M.Sc. candidate
Supervisor: Jochen Jaeger
Start: 2017-09-05
End: 2020-12-20

Project

Multi-scale analysis of urban sprawl in Canada since 1991
The rapid increase of urban development has become a controversial issue due to its many negative effects on the environment. Urban sprawl is defined as dispersed, low-density development, which is ultimately unsustainable, and occurs usually at the expense of high-quality agricultural land and natural areas. Recent surveys indicate an impressive pace of landscape change in Canadian metropolitan areas. For example, built-up areas increased by 157% from 5,651 km2 in 1971, to 14,546 km2 in 2011 in Canada (Soulard et al. 2016). These changes demonstrate the need for further research about how urban sprawl has progressed in the past and how it is likely to occur in the future. This project will address the following research questions: 1. How quickly has the degree of urban sprawl increased since 1971 to 2011 in Canada? 2. Which regions in Canada exhibit higher or lower degree of sprawl? When did the strongest increases of sprawl occur in Canada?