Built within an exceptional watershed, Montreal is intertwined with the waterways that ring its island and flow beneath it in underground networks. Even as the city has pushed its suburbs deeper into the interior of the island and onto the mainland, the daily lives and leisure activities of its inhabitants remain closely bound to water. Montreal, City of Water focuses on water not only as a physical element of the landscape – both shaping and shaped by urban development – but also as a sociocultural component of the life of the city. In exploring the dynamics governing the relationship between Montrealers and their environment, this unique study considers the role of water in the production and transformation of urban space over two centuries. It traces the history of urbanization and shines a light on current concerns about water pollution, river rehabilitation, and renewed public access to the riverfront – and the power relations involved in addressing those concerns.

One of the oldest metropolitan areas in North America, Montreal has evolved from a remote fur-trading post in New France into an international center for services and technology. A city and an island located at the confluence of the Ottawa and St. Lawrence Rivers, it is uniquely situated to serve as an international port while also providing rail access to the Canadian interior. The historic capital of the Province of Canada, once Canada's foremost metropolis, Montreal has a multifaceted cultural heritage drawn from European and North American influences. Thanks to its rich past, the city offers an ideal setting for the study of an evolving urban environment. Metropolitan Natures presents original histories of the diverse environments that constitute Montreal and it region. It explores the agricultural and industrial transformation of the metropolitan area, the interaction of city and hinterland, and the interplay of humans and nature. The fourteen chapters cover a wide range of issues, from landscape representations during the colonial era to urban encroachments on the Kahnawake Mohawk reservation on the south shore of the island, from the 1918-1920 Spanish flu epidemic and its ensuing human environmental modifications to the urban sprawl characteristic of North America during the postwar period. Situations that politicize the environment are discussed as well, including the economic and class dynamics of flood relief, highways built to facilitate recreational access for the middle class, power-generating facilities that invade pristine rural areas, and the elitist environmental hegemony of fox hunting. Additional chapters examine human attempts to control the urban environment through street planning, waterway construction, water supply, and sewerage.

Montreal and Quebec City are vibrant cultural centres, and this updated Colourguide offers detailed information on museums, galleries, and heritage sites as well as shopping, dining nightlife and more. This edition features the most current and in-depth information on Quebec City's convergence of historical buildings and cultural attractions in the Upper and Lower Towns. The guide reflects the local knowledge and independent recommendations of the guide's contributors. Listings are completely revised and updated, with complete contact information for accommodations, events, places to eat, shop and relax. Maps and full-colour photography illustrate an entertaining and informative text.

Vols. for 2012- contain only executive summaries of articles.