ISPRS, Vol-34, Part 2W2, “Dynamic and Multi-Dimensional GIS”, Bangkok, May 23-25, 2001 
27 
i two series of ellipses 
;es representing the 
\ population and three 
at of the Anglophones, 
ints that are points of 
'ent movements of the 
it A and Point B are 
(northwest Moncton), 
(west Moncton), and, 
sector 0014.00 (one in 
the east). Each of the 
ntral point, which is the 
ire are two points per 
ion and red for the 
map that enables us to 
js movements, as this 
?ses that represent the 
s series for each of the 
= THE ELLIPSES’ 
r ITY 
lipse in centrographic 
region being studied, 
s geographical units 5 . 
: a phenomenon, if this 
between geographical 
>nsideration the weight 
to assign this weight to 
linates of the center of 
ese disparities in the 
region. It is, in fact, a 
geographical units (i.e. 
»graphical region or for 
iphical unit over time 
: gravity for the spatial 
and French-speaking 
1981, 1986, 1991 and 
In 1986, the center of 
an of the Francophone 
30 (near the center of 
0012.00 and 0013.00, 
to in 1981, when the 
36.00 without touching 
i slightly the north and 
scent census, in 1996, 
and 0013.00; as we 
tor 0006.00 in 1991, it 
d the northeast. The 
er of gravity seems to 
eppe, which still has a 
s must be drawing the 
north because of the 
cton. The university 
surrounding sectors, 
esenting the spatial 
îg population has 
ment. The center of 
as located in sector 
at over time, but at a 
ians; it has never left 
g the language usage 
leration as of 1981. 
gure 2. 
it is the census tract 
lit representing urban 
js metropolitan areas 
in which the city core 
rding to the previous 
this sector. This is a partial explanation for why the two centers 
of gravity representing the two languages have drifted away 
from each other over time. 
DEVOLUTION OF THE FORMS OF THE ELLIPSES AND 
CHANGES IN THEIR MAJOR AND MINOR AXES 
The evolution of the forms of the ellipses and the changes in 
their major and minor axes in centrographic analysis express 
the dispersion of the phenomenon under study in relation to 
the two spatial dimensions. In order to report better the spatial 
distribution of the overall phenomenon being studied, the 
ellipse can be oriented according to the direction with the most 
variation (Collet, 1992, p.132). 
Let us now look at the ellipses in Figure 1, which surround the 
index points. The exterior ellipse representing the 
Francophones, which is the ellipse the furthest away from the 
center of gravity, in 1986, touches Points B, C, D and E as in 
1981, except that it is getting closer and closer to Point A, due 
to the rotation of the series of ellipses. In 1991, this ellipse was 
touching the bottom of Point A, but still touched the other 
points. Finally, in 1996, the same evolution continues, however 
now the ellipse touches Point A; also, Point B moved higher 
and Point D moved lower. 
The rotation of these ellipses is still related to the increasing 
weight of the Acadian population in the geographical units in 
the regions to the north and to the east of the Université de 
Moncton and the town of Dieppe. This shows that the 
distribution of the French-speaking population is concentrated 
in the northern area of the region descending into the 
southeast. One can see that the region under study can be 
divided, starting in the northwest and coming down diagonally 
toward the southeast. The northeastern part of the diagonal 
would be the part preferred by the Acadians. Statistics confirm 
that the area of the ellipse grew between 1981 and 1996 
toward the northeast and southwest due to the expansion of 
the Acadians. The area went from 171.75 km 2 in 1981 to 
184.49 km 2 in 1996, an increase of around 13 km 2 (See Table 
2). 
The Anglophones present ellipses that are increasingly round. 
This demonstrates the homogeneous distribution of 
Anglophones, who have gradually, over the years, come to 
occupy almost all the space in the region under study. In fact, 
the area of the ellipse grew by only 8 km 2 , a smaller increase 
than that of the Acadians. 
Moreover, the major axis of the ellipse representing the 
Acadians, which is the horizontal length of the interior ellipse, 
experienced more change than the minor axis, which is the 
vertical length of the interior ellipse. These changes include a 
rotation toward the north and an increase in length. This must 
be due to the dispersion of the Acadians in the region, as 
mentioned previously. The major axis measured 7544 metres 
in 1981 and its angle was 78.51 degrees north, while in 1996, 
the major axis measured 8050 metres and its angle was 71.85 
degrees north (See Table 2). The difference is therefore 
around 500 metres for the major axis and only 22 metres for 
the minor axis, with a rotation of almost 7 degrees to the north. 
In effect, these results partly demonstrate the dynamic of the 
Acadian population’s migratory phenomenon. 
There have been a fair number of changes during this 
relatively short period of time. If we compare the changes for 
the Acadians to those for the Anglophones, we can see that 
the distribution of the Anglophones has experienced a 
completely different evolution, the angles of their major axes 
have changed by 18 degrees to the north, a much greater 
variation than that of the Acadians. The major axis measured 
6438 metres in 1981 and, fifteen years later in 1996, it 
measured 6204 metres, 200 metres less. On the other hand, 
the minor axis, which measured 4924 metres in 1981, grew to 
5518 metres by 1996, an increase of almost 600 metres. This 
explains why the ellipses became rounder during this period. 
Over time, the Anglophones have subtly become increasingly 
homogeneous throughout the region. 
6.DYNAMIC OF THE ACADIAN POPULATION 
Figure 3 enables us to confirm what we observed above of the 
urban practices of the Acadians, in particular their choice of 
residential area, as this figure shows only the Acadian 
population over the course of the four censuses. First, we 
looked at the ellipse’s major axis in 1996, which showed a 
significant rotation to the north, as the ellipse was turning to 
the northeast along the major axis and the southwest along the 
minor axis; this phenomenon was probably due to the increase 
in the demographic weight of the Acadian population in sector 
0006.00 (in the center of the region) and other neighboring 
sectors. They exerted a strong force on the town of Dieppe to 
the east of the region being studied, and seemed to draw the 
center of gravity toward them. Secondly, it is important to note 
that the ellipse’s center of gravity moved around 600 metros to 
the northeast from 1981 to 1996, which demonstrates in part 
the importance of the presence of the Université de Moncton 
to the increase in the number of Acadians in the sectors close 
to the university, in particular those to the northeast. These 
changes in the ellipses also prove that the Acadian population 
in Greater Moncton is constantly evolving. 
7.CONCLUSION AND DISCUSSION 
Thanks to centrographic analyses on the study of the process 
of spatial distribution of Acadian inhabitants as compared to 
Anglophones, there has been a large reduction in the amount 
of information necessary for a series of exact measures 
allowing us to set out the global pattern of evolution in a mixed 
Moncton society over the last few decades. The various 
phases of socio-spatial evolution of the Acadian people have 
illustrated the basic outlines of our conclusion. The analyses 
show above all that the dynamic of the spatial distribution of 
the Acadian residents in the various sectors seems to reinforce 
a concentration of Acadians in certain Francophone linguistic 
“ghettos,” notably in the northeast and northwest of the 
Moncton area, descending into the southeast. In addition, as 
opposed to the urban practices of the Anglophone inhabitants, 
the Acadians seem mostly to choose a priori to move to the 
area the closest to their culture and ethnic group. Finally, the 
migratory tendency of Acadians toward the residential areas 
close to the Université de Moncton is becoming an important 
new characteristic of the region under study. This study shows 
that, over the course of the last few decades, the Université de 
Moncton, as an Acadian institution, has played a major role in 
the growth of the Acadian milieus in the Moncton area. 
The advantages of centrographic analysis in a geographic 
information system are obvious in this study. However, in order 
to correctly assess the scope of our results, it is important to 
emphasize certain limits to the kind of analysis performed 
here. The data used is aggregated and only allows the 
identification of global trends. Our centrographic analysis has 
certainly proved to be an effective way to set out the major 
characteristics of the intra-urban migratory phenomenon in the 
Greater Moncton area. It does not, however, truly take into 
account the choice of residential area, as this choice is a 
complex process, affected by various factors. In that sense, it 
would be worthwhile to do a survey of the individuals involved 
in order to have a better understanding of the process. 
REFERENCES 
Bailly, A S., et al. Stratégies spatiales : Comprendre et 
maîtriser l’espace. Montpellier: GIP RECLUS, 1995, 216p. 
Beaudin, M. Impact économique de l’Université de Moncton 
sur les villes de Moncton, Edmunston, et Shippagan. Moncton: 
Canadian Institute for Research on Regional Development, 
1993, 20p. 
Beaudin, M. and R. Boudreau. "État de la francophonie hors 
Québec en 1992." Rapport de recherche, Ottawa: Comité