The fragmented or cosmopolitan metropolis?: A neighbourhood story of immigration in Montreal (La métropole fragmentée ou cosmopolite? Une histoire de quartiers de l’immigration montréalaise)

Abstract

Immigration and the metropolis have long been linked, impacting upon the way we think about the contemporary city. However, quite different narratives, anchored in specific urban and social experiences, have informed traditions of this thinking, from the Chicago School to the Los Angeles School. In Montreal’s case, the narrative is a story of immigrant neighbourhoods, and illustrates both takes on the metropolis; namely that it can be cosmopolitan or fragmented in nature. This article will trace the various chapters of Montreal’s history to demonstrate that, whilst its narrative has, for the most part, identified it as a cosmopolitan city, recent developments seem to have triggered a twist in the tale towards a vision of a fragmented city; at least in sociopolitical discourses.