The Planning and Development of the Mississauga city Centre

Abstract

<p>The Mississauga city Centre is a suburban downtown west of Metropolitan Toronto that is being actively planned to become an urban centre with in the City of Mississauga. The City Centre is in competition with other suburban centres surrounding Toronto and the City of Toronto itself. In order to compete, Mississauga must promote itself as an ideal investment opportunity. Although it currently displays many of the qualities of suburban areas such as a dispersed, automobile-oriented pattern of development, plans for the Mississauga city Centre show it as becoming a dense, mixed-use urban core that is capable of supporting its own public transit system and is conducive to pedestrian activity.</p> <p>Insight on the planning and development process is important as attempts are made to create environments that are functional and pleasing and which do not exhibit any of the negative qualities associated with old city centres (ie. congestion). Further, as competition between centres increases, it is important that these new centres offer amenities and infrastructure that will make them marketable.</p> <p>This thesis examines and evaluates the issues that have been raised during the planning and development of the Mississauga City Centre. These include the challenge of creating a mixed-use urban centre in a typically suburban environment, the role of the community in the planning process, the inclusion of affordable housing and the location of various land uses within the city Centre. The ideas on which the plans for the future of the city Centre have been based are also explored. possibilities for future research include conducting comparative studies with other suburban downtowns and researching the success or failure of the City Centre Secondary Plan based on how precisely development that occurs meets with the current goals and objectives of the Plan.</p>