Trends in rural landscape development and sociodemographic recomposition in southern Quebec (Canada)

Farming production currently leaves vast stretches of land to other functio ns. At the same time. rural areas are becoming residential places for a gro wing number of urban migrants. The landscape developments that result from these changes must be more closely examined. To what extent does the influx of a new rural population change or maintain local landscape dynamics? To what degree do landscape contexts appear to influence the settlement choice s of new rural residents'? Is it possible to identify recurring sociodemogr aphic profiles with regard to these residents? From a detailed analysis of settlement evolution in a territory located in southern Quebec, this study attempts to reveal the relationships existing between social recomposition and landscape developments. Based on three distinct but complementary readi ngs (in situ visual analysis, land use change analysis (1968-1997) and soci odemographic information surveys), and on the possibilities generated by mu ltivariate analysis. it aims to identify: (1) residential settlement patter ns according to landscape contexts and (2) local landscape transformations. On the one hand, results suggest that specific sociodemographic recomposit ion movements do not spread uniformly throughout the study area. They lead to believe that some landscape contexts (upper hillside, panoramic views an d woodlots) constitute determining factors of attractiveness. On the other hand, the diversity of local landscape dynamics (significant or moderate pe rsistence of agricultural activities; advanced agricultural abandon; transi tional agricultural lots; and residential development lots) suggests that c omplex phenomena link social recomposition processes with large-scale agric ultural land use transformations. While establishing a framework of analysi s appropriate for exploring the diversity and the complexity of current lan dscape changes, this paper emphasizes the necessity of considering local la ndscape developments along with social dynamics. This approach helps to bet ter document the evolution of rural communities, as well as to provide insi ght into the shaping of future rural landscapes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.