A selection of Mississauga’s special neighbourhoods are being reviewed as potential Cultural Heritage Landscapes

From time to time, I’ve written about the distinction between approaches, in Mississauga as compared to Toronto, toward citizen participation in land use planning.

Each municipality advances rhetoric, from time to time, celebrating the role that citizens actually play in the shaping of development, and in the shaping of heritage preservation, in their respective communities.

Mayor Bonnie Crombie speaks at AGM of Lakeview Ratepayers Association, Oct. 11, 2017. Jaan Pill photo

Based on what I’ve observed at meetings and decision making over the past decade, in each of the two cities, my sense is that in Mississauga the rhetoric, related to citizen participation, more closely matches the reality, than is the case in Toronto.

To say things in another way: Mississauga’s approach to land use planning, based on my anecdotal observation over the years, is a source of inspiration for me.

By way of example, a previous post (April 8, 2018) is entitled:

Cultural differences between Toronto and Mississauga are evident at land use planning meetings

A March 30, 2021 tweet from Mississauga Culture reads:

A selection of Mississauga’s special neighbourhoods are being reviewed as potential Cultural Heritage Landscapes. We want to know if you value these landscapes. Have your say & complete the survey by March 31

Click here to access Mississauga’s Cultural Heritage Landscape Project >

Update

By way of adding some perspective regarding Mississauga, I refer to a March 30, 2021 Pointer article entitled: “Mississauga’s mayor & its almost exclusively white Council slow to act on anti-Black racism commitments.”

On that note:

Click here for previous posts regarding initiatives to address anti-Black racism >