Q1: Using Google Earth or Google Maps, find an image of each of the following types of survey system in Canada: (a) Seigneurial system, (b) Nova Scotia / New Brunswick Township System, (c) Ontario Township System (identify which type your example is), (d) Dominion Land Survey System, (e) British Columbia Survey System other than DLS, (f) unsystematic settlement in Newfoundland, and (g) Block and Lot Survey System

Q2:Choose some area in the world, outside of Canada. Based on a visual examination of that area in Google Earth / Google Maps, state (a) whether the land allocation appears to be systematic, (b) whether there is similarity to any Canadian survey system, (c) whether the area appears to be densely settled, (d) what kind of land use appears to be carried out there (e.g. industrial, residential, agriculture, forestry, or some combination of these), and (e) whether the land allocation appears to be a good fit for the land use and population density.

The area I decided to look at is Paris, France. Below is a piece of the city I intend to look at.

1. The land allocation for Paris appears to not be systematic and is extremely sporadic. Considering the age of the city this was expected.
2. Looking at the snapshot of the city there appears to be no correlation to any Canadian survey systems.
3. Being a snapshot of the core of Paris (one of the most densely populated cities in the world), this area is very densely settled. Just looking at the picture itself the area is clearly well populated.
4. This land is most definitely not used for agriculture/forestry/industry and appears to be primarily for residential and businesses use.
5. Considering the business and residential aspect of this area this land allocation is not ideal. For a city with such a high population density, business count, and tourism aspect, the random spider-web of streets and various lot sizes would make it a challenge to navigate. It would be much better to have a well organized grid like New York City, but considering Paris was heavily settled long before any systematic surveying methods the city being laid out as it is is not a surprise.

Recently in lecture we discussed the topic of different kinds of survey’s and the evolution of surveying methods. Just simply scrolling around the world on Google Earth one can see much older and sporadic urban plans, and much more modern layouts. Taking a look at London, a much older city than those in North America, a much less organized stance was taken into laying out the city:

But when looking at a much more modern city such as New York the developments in surveying and urban planning can be very clearly seen:

The reason for NYC being so much more appealing to the eye is because systematic surveying was clearly applied when developing the city. This means that lots were given very sharp, defined boundaries which were roughly equal in size. When looking at each “block” in the city, specifically in Manhattan, this is demonstrated. Each street along the lots are also well defined with clear labels such as “E 59th St”. This all results in a very organized and well planned city for which locating of individual parcels is made very easy alongside easy navigation of the city overall. I really find it fascinating how much surveying evolved during colonial times and the fact that two cities originally under the same flag can be so drastically different.

Another surveying system that I find particularly interesting is the seigneurial system which can be easily seen when looking online:

When establishing settlements in North America, the French applied the seigneurial system to their land developments. The idea behind this system is that a seigneur would rent the land to censitaires to raise families and work. The long slivers of land, as seen in the above screenshot, were designed to be systematic in that each lot provides farmers with the necessary land area and gives the tenant access to the river. While this seems like a reasonable plan, the way lots were distributed at the tenants death was not efficient. The lot was split up length wise, the widower receiving half the lot, the oldest son 1/4 of the lot, and the rest being divided among the remaining sons. Over time the lots end up getting so small they can’t be used for proper farming and are of little use to the owner. This major flaw appeared to have been overlooked when putting together the seigneurial system and is one of the reasons it ended up being replaced by the British township system.

The seigneurial system not only affected the landscape of New France but also the culture and development of the French settlers. Due to the plethora of land available at the time incoming people were able to freely choose where they would live, and more importantly who their seigneur was. This caused more settlers to migrate to more popular settlements and less to migrate to areas with bad seigneurs. Because of this the French people grew together as a community under their seigneur and established living areas to be passed on through generations. This helped define areas in Quebec still being lived in today.

While the provided screenshots are just some examples of surveying types there are of course many more depending where you are in the world. I look forward to learning about different ways land parcels are created and will definitely look into how other parts of the globe went about designing their living areas.

References:

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/seigneurial-system

Q1: For the parcel identified above, provide a plot showing both the current parcel and the original parcel. Students should use AutoCAD Civil 3D or another CAD system to create the plot, as this will give them practice for when they later use if for subdivision design. AutoCAD tutorials for relevant operations (and more) are available on D2L under Assignments–>AutoCAD Tutorials, and AutoCAD Civil 3D is available in the GGE computer lab. The most relevant tutorials will be CAD_021_Lot_Drawing, CAD_071_Annotating_Lot, and CAD_081_Dimensioning_Lot

Below is a plot containing the much larger, original crown parcel, and the much smaller current parcel.

The parcel began as a much larger area granted to John Robinson in 1789. Over the years this land was cut up into different parcels including my parcel of choice seen above.