Abstract
In rapidly aging societies, the housing situation of low-income aging renters deserves more attention from urban anthropology, housing studies and social gerontology alike. The main objective of this chapter is to describe the experiences of a sample of aging individuals in handling situations of housing insecurity and displacement in four gentrifying Montreal neighborhoods. The data presented here was gathered through a fieldwork conducted among housing committees’ in four gentrifying neighborhoods in central Montreal. Ten interviews were conducted with community organizers and 20 interviews with aging tenants. Housing insecurity, displacement and social participation among housing committees can be understood as an interconnected phenomenon: One of the main justifications for participating among housing committees was the possibility of not only broadening but taking control over residential choices.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Atkinson, R. 2000. Measuring Gentrification and Displacement in Greater London. Urban Studies 37 (1): 149–165. https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098002339.
Atkinson, R. 2015. Losing One’s Place: Narratives of Neighbourhood Change, Market Injustice and Symbolic Displacement. Housing, Theory and Society 32 (4): 373–388. https://doi.org/10.1080/14036096.2015.1053980.
Atkinson, R., M. Wulff, M. Reynolds, and A. Spinney. 2011. Gentrification and Displacement: The Household Impacts of Neighbourhood Change AHURI Final Report No. 160. Available via the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute Limited. https://www.ahuri.edu.au/research/final-reports/160. Accessed 8 May 2018.
Beauregard, R. 1986. The Chaos and Complexity of Gentrification. In Gentrification of the City, ed. N. Smith and P. Williams, 35–55. London: Allen & Unwin.
Blunt, A., and R. Dowling. 2006. Home. London: Taylor & Francis.
Breault, G. 2014. Recherche et luttes sociales: retour sur une experience empirique sur le terrain de la défense des droits des locataires. Aporia 6 (2): 19–26.
Brunet, J., M. Gallié, R.-A. Laniel. 2016. Le contentieux en matière de reprise et d’éviction de logement. Available via Regroupement des comités logements et associations de locataires du Québec. https://rclalq.qc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Rapport_Expulsions_reprises_et_%C3%A9victions_version-longue.pdf. Accessed 4 July 2018.
Burns, V.F., J.-P. Lavoie, and D. Rose. 2012. Revisiting the Role of Neighbourhood Change in Social Exclusion and Inclusion of Older People. Journal of Aging Research 2012: 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/148287.
Carlton, N., F. Heywood, and M. Izuhara. 2003. The Harassment and Abuse of Older People in the Private Rented Sector. Bristol: Policy Press.
Chabrol, M., A. Collet, and M. Giroud. 2016. Gentrifications. Paris: Éditions Amsterdam.
Comité logement de La Petite-Patrie, Laboratoire urbain de l’Université Concordia. 2014. L’érosion du parc de logements locatifs de la Petite Patrie. Available via Office de consultation publique de Montréal. https://ocpm.qc.ca/sites/ocpm.qc.ca/files/pdf/P73/8a17a.pdf. Accessed 4 January 2016.
Cox, R., B. Henwood, S.L. Wenzel, and E. Rice. 2016. Roadmap to a Unified Measure of Housing Insecurity. CESR-Schaeffer Working Paper. Available via SSRN. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2817626. Accessed 5 January 2018.
DeSena, J.N., and J. Krase. 2015. Brooklyn Revisited: An Illustrated View from the Street 1970 to the Present. Urbanities 5 (2): 3–19.
Direction Régionale de la Santé Publique (DRSP). 2017. Portrait des aînés de l’Île de Montréal. https://santemontreal.qc.ca/fileadmin/user_upload/Uploads/tx_asssmpublications/pdf/publications/Portrait_aines_ile_de_Montreal_MAJ_janv2019.pdf Accessed 7 January 2018.
Ferrer, I., A. Grenier, S. Brotman, and S. Koehn. 2017. Understanding the Experiences of Racialized Older People Through an Intersectional Life Course Perspective. Journal of Aging Studies 41: 10–17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2017.02.001.
FRAPRU. 2017. Logements locatifs – la baisse des taux d’innocupation et la hausse du coût des loyers dans plusieurs secteurs de Montréal et Laval inquiètent le FRAPRU. http://www.frapru.qc.ca/donneesschlrmrmtl/. Accessed 30 November 2017.
Galčanová, L., and D. Sýkorová. 2015. Socio-Spatial Aspects of Aging in an Urban Context: An Example from Three Czech Republic Cities. Aging and Society 35 (6): 1200–1220. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X14000154.
Gouvernement du Québec. 2018. Un Québec pour tous les âges. Plan d’action 2018–2023. Available via Ministère de la famille. https://www.mfa.gouv.qc.ca/fr/publication/Documents/PA-qc-tous-ages.PDF. Accessed 6 June 2018.
Henig, J.R. 1984. Gentrification and Displacement of the Elderly: An Empirical Analysis. In Gentrification, Displacement and Neighborhood Revitalization, ed. J. Palen and B. London, 170–184. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Hillcoat-Nallétamby, S., and J. Ogg. 2013. Moving Beyond ‘Aging in Place’: Older People’s Dislikes About Their Home and Neighbourhood Environments as a Motive for Wishing to Move. Aging & Society 34 (10): 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X13000482.
Hulse, K., and V. Milligan. 2014. Secure Occupancy: A New Framework for Analysing Security in Rental Housing. Housing Studies 29 (5): 638–656. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2013.873116.
IRIS. 2017. Marché locatif: des loyers toujours en hausse. Available via IRIS https://iris-recherche.qc.ca/publications/post-crise-logement. Accessed 4 May 2018.
Israël, S., and V. Billette. 2010. Les abus envers les aînés. Lumière sur une problématique voilée. In Vieillir au pluriel. Perspectives sociales, ed. M. Charpentier, N. Guberman, V. Billette, J.-P. Lavoie, A. Grenier, and I. Olazabal. Québec: PUQ.
Journal Métro. 2018. Surenchère des propriétés. Rosemont-la-Petite-Patrie au premier rang. Available via Journal Métro. http://journalmetro.com/local/villeray-st-michel-parc-extension/actualites-villeray-st-michel-parc-extension/1595046/surenchere-des-proprietes-rosemont-la-petite-patrie-au-premier-rang/. Accessed 4 June 2018.
Lager, D., B. Van Hoven, and P.P. Huigen. 2013. Dealing with Change in Old Age: Negotiating Working-Class Belonging in a Neighbourhood in the Process of Urban Renewal in the Netherlands. Geoforum 50: 54–61. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2013.07.012.
Lees, L. 2003. Super-Gentrification: The Case of Brooklyn Heights, New York City. Urban Studies 40 (12): 2487–2509. https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098032000136174.
Lees, L., T. Slater, and E.K. Wyly. 2008. Gentrification. London: Routledge and Taylor & Francis.
LeGates, R.T., and C. Hartman. 1986. The Anatomy of Displacement in the United States. In Gentrification of the City, ed. N. Smith and P. Williams, 178–200. London: Allen & Unwin.
Leibing, A., N. Guberman, and J. Wiles. 2016. Liminal Homes: Older People, Loss of Capacities, and the Present Future of Living Spaces. Journal of Aging Studies 37: 10–19. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaging.2015.12.002.
Marcuse, P. 1985. Gentrification, Abandonment, and Displacement: Connections, Causes, and Policy Responses in New York City. Washington University Journal of Urban and Contemporary Law 28: 195–248.
Madden, D., and P. Marcuse. 2016. In Defense of Housing: The Politics of Crisis. London: Verso Books.
Morris, A. 2007. On the Edge: The Financial Situation of Older Renters in the Private Rental Market in Sydney. Australian Journal of Social Issues 42 (3): 337–350. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1839-4655.2007.tb00062.x.
Morris, A. 2009. Living on the Margins: Comparing Older Private Renters and Older Public Housing Tenants in Sydney, Australia. Housing Studies 24 (5): 693–707. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673030903087566.
Morris, A. 2018. Housing Tenure and the Health of Older Australians Dependant on the Age Pension for Their Income. Housing Studies 33 (1): 77–95.
Morris, A., K. Hulse, and H. Pawson. 2017. Long-Term Private Renters: Perceptions of Security and Insecurity. Journal of Sociology 53 (3): 653–669. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783317707833.
Nowicki, M. 2014. Rethinking Domicide: Towards an Expanded Critical Geography of Home. Geography Compass 8 (11): 785–795. https://doi.org/10.1111/gec3.12178.
Paillé, P., and A. Mucchielli. 2012. L’analyse qualitative en sciences humaines et sociales. Paris: Armand Colin.
Phillipson, C. 2007. The ‘Elected’ and the ‘Excluded’: Sociological Perspectives on the Experience of Place and Community in Old Age. Aging and Society 27 (3): 321–342. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0144686X06005629.
Portacolone, E., and J. Halpern. 2016. “Move or Suffer”: Is Age-Segregation the New Norm for Older Americans Living Alone? Journal of Applied Gerontology 35 (8): 836–856. https://doi.org/10.1177/0733464814538118.
Radio-Canada. 2016. Indignation contre l’éviction d’un locataire dans la Petite-Patrie. Available via Journal Métro, 3 March. https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/768602/boycottage-epicerie-milano-pierino-di-tonno-comite-logement-petite-patrie. Accessed 5 December 2017.
RCLALQ. 2016 Les évictions de locataires pour le profit, ça suffit! Available via RCLALQ http://rclalq.qc.ca/les-evictions-ofit-ca-suffit/. Accessed 3 May 2018.
Rémillard-Boilard, S. 2018. The Development of Age-Friendly Cities and Communities. In Age-Friendly Cities and Communities: A Global Perspective, ed. T. Buffel, S. Handler, and C. Phillipson, 13–32. Bristol: Policy Press.
Rúa, M.M. 2017. Aging in Displacement: Urban Revitalization and Puerto Rican Elderhood in Chicago. Anthropology & Aging 38 (1): 44–59. https://doi.org/10.5195/AA.2017.157.
Schlichtman, J.J., J. Patch, and M. Lamont Hill. 2017. Gentrifier. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Séguin, A.-M., P. Apparicio, M. Riva, and P. Negron-Poblete. 2015. The Changing Spatial Distribution of Montreal Seniors at the Neighbourhood Level: A Trajectory Analysis. Housing Studies 31 (1): 61–80. https://doi.org/10.1080/02673037.2015.1061106.
Twigge-Molecey, A. 2013. Exploring Resident Experiences of Displacement in a Neighbourhood Undergoing Gentrification and Mega-Project Development: A Montréal Case Study. PhD dissertation. Available via Université du Québec, Institut national de la recherche scientifique. http://espace.inrs.ca/1673/.
Van Criekingen, M. 2008. Réurbanisation ou gentrification? Espaces et Sociétés 134: 149–166. https://doi.org/10.3917/esp.134.0149.
Van Criekingen, M., and J.-M. Decroly. 2003. Revisiting the Diversity of Gentrification: Neighbourhood Renewal Processes in Brussels and Montreal. Urban Studies 40 (12): 2451–2468. https://doi.org/10.1080/0042098032000136156.
Ville de Montréal. 2014. Profil des ménages et des logements. Available via Ville de Montréal. http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/MTL_STATS_FR/MEDIA/DOCUMENTS/PROFIL%20DES%20M%C9NAGES%20ET%20DES%20LOGEMENTS%20-%20VILLE%20DE%20MONTR%C9AL.PDF. Accessed 5 June 2018.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Simard, J. (2020). Gentrification and Aging in Montreal, Quebec: Housing Insecurity and Displacement Among Older Tenants. In: Krase, J., DeSena, J. (eds) Gentrification around the World, Volume I. Palgrave Studies in Urban Anthropology. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41337-8_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41337-8_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-41336-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-41337-8
eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)