Abstract
This paper examines the incursion of working class recreational sports into riverfront green spaces as part of a long history of urban land use conflict in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. A typical small city and provincial capital, Fredericton was and is home to lumber industries that supported a large working class population, workers who lived alongside a large cadre of white collar government and social service elites. Casual land use patterns by working Frederictonians occasionally clashed with middle class sensibilities in the establishment of recreational zones for workers’ sporting events, such as baseball. The paper applies and combines geo-spatial analyses and social historical techniques to interpret visual data from aerial mosaics, sources that can capture new information about land use over 60 years of development. The research demonstrates a new Historical Geographic Data Science (H-GDS approach) to historical social sciences in urban development and urban renewal, especially our understanding of the evolution of green spaces. It reveals local community approaches to green space development that mediated conflict between homeowner interests and community needs for multi-use recreational space.
Presenters
Sasha MullallyProfessor, Historical Studies/School of Graduate Studies, University of New Brunswick, New Brunswick, Canada
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Urban Studies, Urban History, Environmental Studies, Recreation Spaces, Green Spaces
