Le tissu urbain comme forme culturelle : morphogenèse des faubourgs de Québec, pratiques de l'habiter, pratiques de mise en oeuvre et représentations

This dissertation examines the evolution of the urban tissues of Quebec City's "faubourgs." It présents a diachronic morphological analysis of the structuration of the residential tissues of these neighborhoods between 1608 and 2001. It also provides a synchronic analysis of the syntax of the tissues as well as an architectural typology describing the main architectural types in terms of genesis and processes of derivation in successive types. Finally, it examines the practices of different groups of agents and their impacts on morphological change, while stressing the social and economic conditions under which these agents acted. The study is intended as a contribution to the fields of Urban Morphology and Urban History. This case study is among the first to apply in a North American context the theoretical framework and methods developed by the Italian school of process typology. It proposes also to envision morphological transformation through a theory of practice. Drawing heavily on cartographie documentation, urban iconography, and archival material on land development from notarial and religious sources, this urban morphogenetic study posits that the formation of the urban tissue can be better understood as the outeome of a dialectical interplay between purposeful planning practices, everyday "spontaneous" practices, and structurally resilient settlement configurations and urban form inherited from the past