Beyond Density

Browsing the Toronto Star recently, I came across “Mississauga wants life on its sidewalks”. Further reading revealed that there is a move to revamp downtown Mississauga, commencing in the spring of 2008. Inspired by the urban designs of other large cities, the Mississauga urban design panel seeks to design and create Mississauga’s first “urban village” dubbed Parkside Village – an urban style “pedestrian-oriented development”. Despite encompassing a broad mix of land uses, downtown Mississauga lacks street vitality. With the development of Mississauga’s Parkside Village, special attention will be placed on the street grid in an effort to increase pedestrian flow, thus encouraging active encounters. Sidewalks will be created wide enough to allow cafe-style seating and gathering points. There are plans to construct high-rise, midrise, and town house units, restaurants, stores, banks, offices, and a hotel in a bid to draw people to the streets. In addition, there are future plans for the construction of a park and the redevelopment of two existing squares.

This article is relevant to the course, since it is an excellent example of analyzing and applying the three main approaches to space/place (descriptive, phenomenological, social constructionist) in the understanding of Mississauga’s downtown as a place. As stated by Creswell, place is defined as “humans investing meaning to a portion of space and becoming attached to it” (e.g. by naming it). Well, Mississauga’s downtown, once a vast vacant space, has been transformed from a quantifiable, fixed, and framed location to place filled with meaning and social value, given that, presently, emphasis has been placed on creating an exclusive community-based “home”. The new design will enable one to have a sense of attachment and intimacy towards this place. With increased pedestrian activity, Mississauga’s downtown will be a place injected with meaningful encounters – the changing of physical space to inculcate one’s experience. Additionally, it will become a place that welcomes people, is accessible to all, thus, enabling people to be included in the circuit of production and consumption. Parkside Village is an urban symbol striving towards putting people “in place”.


Beyond Density
Toronto Star (Ontario Edition)
Dan O'Reilly
Jan 26, 2008