Title:
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Funders:
France-Canada Geographies of ShrinkAge
Maxwell Hartt, Principal Investigator
Beatriz Fernandez, Co-Principal Investigator
Rachel Barber, Graduate Researcher
Anton Paumelle, Postdoctoral Researcher
2024-present
Mitacs, Queen’s University, EHESS
Summary: The France-Canada Geographies of ShrinkAge is a joint project between Queen’s University and L’École des hautes études en sciences sociales. The project examines the past, present, and future geographies aging, shrinking, and left-behind places. It analyzes the relationships between age-friendly policy and municipal demographic and socioeconomic trends in both countries. By comparing and contrasting localized trends in different national contexts, the project explores wider questions surrounding the challenges and opportunities of age-friendly policy in shrinking cities, as well as the realities and implications of uneven regional development.
Publications
Paumelle, A., R. Barber, B. Fernandez & M. Hartt. (2026). Silently ageing, quietly shrinking: Examining age-friendly policy in French and Canadian shrinking cities. Cities, 171, 106735.
Conference Presentations
Barber, R., A. Paumelle, M. Hartt & B. Fernandez. (2025). Quietly shrinking, silently aging: Examining age-friendly policy in French and Canadian shrinking cities, American Association of Geographers Conference, Detroit, MI, USA.
Barber, R., A. Paumelle, M. Hartt & B. Fernandez. (2024). Aging amongst shrinkage: Examining age-friendly policy in French and Canadian shrinking cities, Association of European Schools of Planning Conference, Paris, France.
Department of Geography and Planning
Queen’s University
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