The Hochelaga-Maisonneuve Project

Taken from the introduction of a report written by Cailey Nikodem and Nicholas Philipson (2024).

What comes to mind for many people studying urbanism when tasked with identifying the morphology of an area is to examine and classify residential buildings. From that, they can discern a rough morphological history of a particular area, breaking down social and economic trends and planning trends into distinct features on facades, in building layouts, and heights. What methods can be used when the are does not have this long and slow evolution of residential forms? How do you perform a morphological analysis of an industrial or suburban area? 

The current cohort of students working in the Urban Laboratory class, part of the Urban Planning Specialization program at Concordia University in Montreal, are studying a neighbourhood called Hochelaga-Maisonneuve. Divided into different sections of the neighbourhood, each group had to build a morphological analysis of that particular zone. But included in the neighbourhood is a large industrial zone, the Olympic Park, the Cite Jardin, and areas that do not neccessarily easily fit into a clear urban history. While the rest of the neighbourhood of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve was laid out along a grid and built incrementally alongside the expansion of Montreal’s street railway network, its eastern edge remains a hodge-podge of manufacturing facilities, warehouses and other large-scale destinations. But these places did not simply appear - they have their own morphological history just like the rest of the neighbourhood. 

This morphological analysis will use visual data to come to conclusions. Using ArcGIS to visualize data sources, along with the creation of our own data sources through georeferencing, historical maps and other methods. 

Link to the first report in high-quality: STRATA, 2024