Revised October 2023
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Skeris, Peter, author
Mississauga: building a livable city / Peter Skeris.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-0-9952311-3-9 (Kindle Nov 2020)
ISBN 978-0-9952311-4-6 (BOOK Nov 2020)
1. Mississauga (Ont.). 2. Mississauga (Ont.)--History.
3. Mississauga (Ont.)--Economic conditions. 4. Mississauga
(Ont.)--Social conditions. 5. City planning. I. Title.
FC3099.M57S54 2016 971.3'535 C2016-907520-6
Book Review
… I greatly appreciate the opportunity to review this long overdue manuscript on Mississauga. In my opinion, Mississauga – “what kind of city it is and what kind of city it will become in the next few decades…?” - is an excellent choice/study area. I am delighted by this important manuscript, which offers an impressive depth of historical and empirical detail about this city’s history, demographic structures, urban and social geographies, economy, patterns of community life/sustainability, urban planning, challenges and changing urban landscapes and employment in the digital area. […] as an insider the author, who has lived and worked in Mississauga, brings an in-depth knowledge about the structure, evolution and challenges facing this culturally diverse suburban city of Toronto. This study has policy implications. This manuscript provides a well-organized and representative snapshot of the “journey” of the growth and evolution of Mississauga (and the Toronto region) for the last few decades, including the numerous “forces” - social, cultural, political and economic - that continue shaping this city since the early 1970s. This manuscript will fill major gaps in the literature (e.g., urban sociology, urban and social geography, planning, history...). But it also goes one step further by adding another layer of understanding to the rich but also complex forces (demographic, social, cultural, economic, political ) shaping suburban multicultural cities in Canada by focusing on settlement, urbanization, economic development and urban planning for cultural and economic diversity.
Prof. Carlos Teixeira, Community, Culture, and Global Studies.
University of British Columbia
Content overview
In the first chapter we review distinct strains of thought in the writings on cities, mainly within the European and North American context, as they became more pronounced in the 2nd half of the 20th century.
In the second chapter we look at the emergence of Canada’s largest urban agglomeration, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), in the context of the development of other urban centres—and at immigration as the main factor shaping its growth.
Chapter three is devoted to the birth of Mississauga as an extension of the growing Toronto agglomeration. We will portray the growing human and economic potential of the city.
In chapter four we consider “urban sprawl” as a determining characteristic of an urban agglomeration and of its present limitations to growth.
In chapter five we reflect on societal changes that will determine the economic outlook and quality of life in the city in the coming decades, particularly from the perspective of employment opportunities now endangered by globalization and accelerating technological change.
In Chapter Six we review lessons learned in the previous chapters and attempt to sketch major shifts in urban economy that have taken hold in the 2000s, and will then determine the livability primarily of the city Mississauga within the Toronto urbanized region over the next two decades. Based on preliminary generalizations on the emergence of a knowledge-based economy we will attempt to translate these shifts into the requirements for an urban policy that would balance the emerging tensions in the labour markets and also deal with the environmental consequences of the automobile-based lifestyle that became dominant in the second half of the 20th century.
Chapter Seven: Sixty years after the publication of The Death and Life of Great American Cities by Jane Jacobs the title remains a stark reminder of the dangers facing populations of large cities around the world. Today the very survival of many of their residents is at stake: the coronavirus pandemic has ravaged mainly the populations of large cities. Read more in The Year of the Pandemic and in Covid-19 by clicking on tabs at the top of the page.
Table of Contents
(ca 200 pages, including 17 graphs and images)
Introduction
Chapter ONE: Why cities?
A glance into the past | Seeds of industrialization in America | The birth of industrial cities | Environmental decline | Urban utopias | Utopian suburbia | Deindustrialization | Post-industrial cities | What makes the city tick? | Agglomeration economies | Density encourages innovation | Specialization versus diversification | Megaregions | Summary References Chapter One
Chapter TWO: Settlement patterns in Canada
The colonization of North America | The French in retreat | The humble origins of Toronto | Trailing Montreal | The call of the wild | Settlement of the Prairies | Immigration after WWII | Interprovincial migration | Toronto catching up | The booming cities | Mississauga emerging from the shadows | Summary References Chapter Two
Chapter THREE: The human and economic potential of Mississauga
In search of affordable housing | Population forecasts | An aging population | Suburban population profiles | An expanding business community | Small and large | Knowledge workers | Automotive sector | From the highways to the skyways | Bombardier's challenges | Life sciences | Educating for innovation | International students | Financial services sector | Information and communications technologies | Food manufacturing | Summary References Chapter Three
Chapter FOUR: Towards a sustainable city
Toronto “The Good” | Road congestion | Gridlock statistics | The cost of congestion | Dealing with gridlock | Deficit of transit | Induced demand versus reduced demand | Congestion pricing | Limiting sprawl | Why urban sprawl? | Dreaming up a downtown | Sprawl is not sustainable | Health concerns | Revision of the American Dream | The changing workforce | Income polarization | Walkable neighbourhoods | Why walkable cities are sustainable | Can Mississauga be walkable? | Complete streets | Montreal’s experience | New York City did it | Can Mississauga be walkable? | Complete streets | Montreal’s experience | New York City did it | Complete Communities | The “Big Move” | Hurontario LRT | Enabling the bicycle | Livable cities for everybody | Summary References Chapter Four
Chapter FIVE: Employment in the digital age
Moving towards 2030 | Globalization and its casualties | The decline of automobile manufacturing | Jobs going South | The digital revolution | The development of smart machines | Progress or stagnation? | “Lights-out” factories | The rise of intelligent technologies | The future of employment | Jobs at risk | Jobs lost, jobs created | Autonomous vehicles | Consequences of automation | Social mobility derailed | Innovation centres | New skills required | Protecting intellectual property rights | Business friendly | Facing the challenge | Summary References Chapter Five.
Chapter SIX: Lessons learned
Policies for livable cities | Services delivered digitally | Best practices | Education and training for innovation | Tokyo Olympics 2020 going robotic | A glimpse into post-work society | The greying cities | Scales of prestige | Angry Luddites of the 2000s? | The limitations of post-Fordism | Living with self-driving cars | The bright scenarios | Our collective responsibility References Chapter Six
Chapter Seven: The pandemic and the livability of cities
The Impact of the pandemic | The future of globalization | The future with COVID-19 | A note on Renewables | A World Wide Grid | Continuing the journey
References, Chapter Seven
Postscript