City Centre
Mississauga, Canada
Contributed by Project for Public Spaces
The central district of Canada's fifth largest city is dominated by a gigantic shopping center.
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Why It Doesn't Work
Mississauga is Canada's 5th largest city but is known mainly as the home of Toronto's airport. It lacks a reputation to match its size. A big reason is, as Gertrude Stein once put it, "there is no there there" in the central district, which is dominated by a gigantic shopping center. This could be easily changed by focusing on improving the underperforming public spaces at the public buildings downtown and tying them into the mall with a newly created Main Street connecting them. Doing this, Mississauga could take a giant leap to becoming a real and dynamic city. With all the residential development happening near downtown and a commitment to a series of new parks to support these residents, Mississauga can be a model for the modern city.