ISPRS, Vol.34, Part 2W2, “Dynamic and Multi-Dimensional GIS", Bangkok, May 23-25, 2001 
ISPRS, Vol.34, 
the entrepreneurial spirit that has inspired Moncton since the 
CN offices closed in the mid-1980s is partly due to the 
cohabitation of Anglophones and Acadians. The 
implementation of a strategic planning exercise between the 
two linguistic groups has enabled the Moncton area to take 
charge and find various alternatives to deal with the difficult 
situation that followed the closing of the CN facilities. Today, 
the Acadians living in the Greater Moncton area hold important 
positions in the business world, as well as in both the federal 
and provincial public service, and in the field of university 
teaching (Higgins and Breau, 1993). 
This new reality is undoubtedly causing a major transformation 
in the region’s socio-spatial structure (Cao, 2001). Over the 
past twenty years, transformations have occurred which have 
considerably modified the process of spatial distribution of 
Greater Moncton’s Acadian and Anglophone inhabitants. 
Using a series of centrographic analyses in spatio-temporal 
dimensions, this study will attempt to show the aspects related 
to the articulation of the important actors, in particular the 
Acadians, in the intra-urban migratory phenomenon of the 
region being studied. The aim of this series of analyses is to 
develop a geographic information system (GIS) on the 
evolution of the Acadians, in order to reveal their urban 
behaviour practices as compared to those of the Anglophones, 
in particular their choice of residential area. 
3.MIGRATORY PHENOMENON OF THE ACADIAN 
POPULATION 
The triad of communities, Moncton, Dieppe and Riverview, that 
constitute the Greater Moncton area play a specific role in the 
process of spatial distribution of the Acadian and Anglophone 
residents. Dieppe and Riverview are traditional ethnolinguistic 
focal points and show a marked dichotomy in their linguistic 
composition. These two towns act almost as linguistic 
“ghettos." The inhabitants of Riverview are almost all 
Anglophones. The town of Dieppe demonstrates relatively the 
same pattern of homogeneity, but in the opposite sense, 
attracting a principally Acadian population (See Table 1). 
Moncton, however, presents a dynamic situation overall with 
regard to the mixed society of Acadians and Anglophones. 
Over the past few decades, the spatial and temporal diffusion 
of the spreading phenomena for both the Acadian and 
Anglophone populations was significantly accelerated, in 
particular due to a considerable increase in the number of 
newly arrived Acadians (Roy, 1993). In this sense, this 
diffusion corresponds with the transmission and gradual 
adoption of the minority Acadian population in this space. 
According to Bailly’s study (Bailly et al, 1995), the new arrivals, 
minorities in particular, could choose to move to communities 
where they could find the milieu the closest to their culture and 
their ethnic group. People could also leave their 
neighbourhoods when different ethnic or cultural groups 
arrived and move to similar urban or suburban zones. From 
this perspective, by reproducing spatial regularities, 
centrographic analyses help us to understand the major 
processes taking place in this transformation. 
Given the preponderance of the Acadian-Anglophone dynamic 
in the Moncton area, the context’s linguistic reality continues to 
play a vital role in the urban practices of the inhabitants. The 
series of centrographic analyses concerning the distribution of 
English- and French-speaking populations 2 therefore shows a 
significant movement in the Greater Moncton area over the 
course of the last fifteen years. Figure 1 is composed of four 
schematic maps, each corresponding to a census, the first 
from 1981, the second from 1986, the third from 1991 and the 
The language spoken at home is the language that the 
respondant spoke the most often at home at the time of the 
census. This variable was asked of 20% of the popuation 
(Statistics Canada, 1999). 
fourth from 1996 3 . These maps contain two series of ellipses 
each, three blue hierarchical ellipses representing the 
migratory phenomenon of the Acadian population and three 
red hierarchical ellipses representing that of the Anglophones. 
Each map also includes five index points that are points of 
reference helping to visualize the different movements of the 
ellipses. On the map for 1981, Point A and Point B are 
therefore located in sector 0011.00 4 (northwest Moncton). 
Point C is located in sector 0003.01 (west Moncton), and, 
finally, Points D and E are located in sector 0014.00 (one in 
the southeast and the other more to the east). Each of the 
three hierarchical ellipses contains a central point, which is the 
center of gravity point (CG point). There are two points per 
map, blue for the Acadian population and red for the 
Anglophone population. Figure 3 is the map that enables us to 
make a better comparison of the various movements, as this 
map only contains the four series of ellipses that represent the 
spatial distribution of the Acadians, one series for each of the 
censuses. 
4.TRACKING THE MOVEMENT OF THE ELLIPSES’ 
CENTERS OF GRAVITY 
The center of gravity (CG) of an ellipse in centrographic 
analysis is the relative center of the region being studied, 
according to the weight of each of its geographical units 5 . 
When studying the spatial distribution of a phenomenon, if this 
phenomenon is distributed unevenly between geographical 
units, it can be interesting to take into consideration the weight 
of each geographical unit and therefore to assign this weight to 
each point. The calculation of the coordinates of the center of 
gravity will then take into account these disparities in the 
weights of the geographical units in the region. It is, in fact, a 
useful reference for comparing several geographical units (i.e. 
census tracts) at points in the same geographical region or for 
comparing the position of one geographical unit over time 
(Pumain and Saint-Julien, 1997, p.54). 
We determined the weighted centers of gravity for the spatial 
distribution of both the English- and French-speaking 
populations for the four censuses, i.e. 1981, 1986, 1991 and 
1996, and presented them in Figure 1. In 1986, the center of 
gravity representing the spatial distribution of the Francophone 
population was located in sector 0006.00 (near the center of 
Greater Moncton), but touched sectors 0012.00 and 0013.00, 
which are closer to the east, compared to in 1981, when the 
CG was located at the east of sector 0006.00 without touching 
the others. The CG has therefore moved slightly the north and 
also slightly to the east. As of the most recent census, in 1996, 
the CG only touches sectors 0012.00 and 0013.00; as we 
know that it was no longer touching sector 0006.00 in 1991, it 
has only continued its trajectory toward the northeast. The 
movement or even attraction of the center of gravity seems to 
be due to the existence of the town of Dieppe, which still has a 
high number of Acadians, and therefore must be drawing the 
center of gravity to the east and to the north because of the 
presence of the Université de Moncton. The university 
promotes the development of the surrounding sectors, 
particularly the sectors to the northeast. 
However, the center of gravity representing the spatial 
distribution of the English-speaking population has 
experienced much more limited movement. The center of 
gravity for the Anglophones, which was located in sector 
0005.00 in 1981, has moved to the east over time, but at a 
much slower rate than that of the Acadians; it has never left 
3 Statistics Canada only began including the language usage 
variable in the Moncton census agglomeration as of 1981. 
4 The sector numbers are presented in Figure 2. 
5 In this research, the geographical unit is the census tract 
(CT). A CT is a small geographical unit representing urban 
or rural communities created in census metropolitan areas 
and census agglomerations in Canada, in which the city core 
has 50 000 inhabitants or more according to the previous 
census (Cao and Arseneault, 1999). 
this sector. This 
of gravity repre 
from each other 
5.EVOLUTIOI 
CHANGE 
The evolution o 
their major and 
the dispersion c 
the two spatial c 
distribution of 
ellipse can be o 
variation (Collet, 
Let us now look 
index points. 
Francophones, ’ 
center of gravity 
1981, except the 
to the rotation ol 
touching the be 
points. Finally, ir 
now the ellipse 
and Point D mo\ 
The rotation of 
weight of the A< 
the regions to tl 
Moncton and 1 
distribution of th 
in the northerr 
southeast. One 
divided, starting 
toward the sout 
would be the pa 
that the area c 
toward the nortf 
the Acadians. 1 
184.49 km 2 in 1! 
2). 
The Anglophone 
This demonsti 
Anglophones, w 
occupy almost a 
the area of the < 
than that of the > 
Moreover, the 
Acadians, which 
experienced mo 
vertical length o\ 
rotation toward t 
be due to the ( 
mentioned prevf 
in 1981 and its f 
the major axis m 
degrees north 
around 500 met 
the minor axis, v 
In effect, these 
Acadian populati 
There have be 
relatively short p 
the Acadians to 
the distribution 
completely diffei 
have changed t 
variation than th 
6438 metres in 
measured 6204 
the minor axis, v 
5518 metres by 
explains why the 
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