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Title
The 3rd ISPRS Workshop on Dynamic and Multi-Dimensional GIS & the 10th Annual Conference of CPGIS on Geoinformatics
Author
Chen, Jun

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