Rural Domestic Landscape Changes: A survey of the residential practices of local and migrant populations

Abstract

Along with the social recomposition of rural communities, the increase in residential use of the countryside appears a determining factor in landscape change. The extent to which urban and non-farming migrants are settling in rural areas is creating a 'rural renaissance', characterized by a demographic revival in these areas. While many studies focus on rural landscapes, few empirical works have explored the residential practices that may ultimately affect these landscapes. These changes are documented within a defined territory in southern Quebec at a scale where they are the most expressive, namely, that of domestic space. Seven clusters of residential practices are identified, and four domestic landscape scenarios are revealed: the non-farming residential lot, the farming lot, the landscape aesthetic lot and the declining lot.