Residential and urban transformations in a medium-sized city: Trois- Rivières and the specter of gentrification
Research on gentrification in the province of Quebec has focused more on transformations in the central neighbourhoods of Montreal than on those taking place in Quebec City and certain rural municipalities. Thus, the issue of revitalization with gentrification potential in medium-sized cities is much less present in the literature. Nevertheless, following the completion of various residential and tourism projects in Trois-Rivières, a number of studies have examined the challenges related to the impacts of these projects on the residents of the surrounding neighbourhoods. The studies showed, for example, that while residential development in Trois-Rivières was essentially limited to the outskirts for a number of years, the municipal authorities ended up supporting the revitalization of the downtown area through the development of a former industrial wasteland (linked to pulp and paper). Through a description of the Sainte-Cécile district and an analysis of the normative references of the actors involved in this revitalization process, we evaluate the presence of gentrification in the debates surrounding urban transformations in Trois-Rivières.