Striking the right Balance
The spatial uses and representations of a territory influence each other in a lifetime and also play an important role in the definition of residential choice and aspirations. If measures were taken to encourage households to move closer to inner-city neighborhoods, in order to curb urban sprawl, they should be underpinned by a deep understanding of inhabitants’ social representations of metropolitan territories. For example, how do exurbanites generally view the city, the suburbs and the countryside? Our own analysis is based on a qualitative survey of 132 households from six exurban residential settings located beyond the limits of the Quebec City metropolitan area. Not only do our results reveal that the great majority of these households are not former exurbs. City representations and meanings are predominantly negative, while those defining suburbs and the countryside are systematically positive. Respondents found it difficult to describe their own residential settings clearly.