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Mobility

Dundas Connects

Dundas Connects transforms one of Mississauga’s key main streets into a model for suburban intensification. This comprehensive master plan balances higher-density development with transportation improvements, including bus rapid transit, while uniting disparate urban forms from different planning eras into a cohesive vision for growth over the next 40 years.
project Type
Mobility
location
Mississauga, Ontario
client
City of Mississauga
dates
2016 - 2018
expertise
Urban Design, Planning, Landscape Architecture
land Information
Urban street design concept showing integrated bus stops, wide pedestrian crossings, protected bike lanes, and public gathering spaces.
Mobility

Dundas Connects

Urban street design concept showing integrated bus stops, wide pedestrian crossings, protected bike lanes, and public gathering spaces.
project Type
Mobility
location
Mississauga, Ontario
client
City of Mississauga
land Information
dates
2016 - 2018
expertise
Urban Design, Planning, Landscape Architecture
Dundas Connects transforms one of Mississauga’s key main streets into a model for suburban intensification. This comprehensive master plan balances higher-density development with transportation improvements, including bus rapid transit, while uniting disparate urban forms from different planning eras into a cohesive vision for growth over the next 40 years.

We created clear, practical guidelines for development along the 17-kilometer corridor that address everything from flooding concerns to streetscape improvements. The framework makes the approval process predictable for developers while ensuring new projects contribute to transit ridership and community life. By balancing growth with livability, we ensure that intensification makes neighborhoods stronger rather than overwhelming them with change.

Community feedback board with colorful sticky notes collecting ideas and suggestions for improving Dundas Street's future development.

Real change happens when communities have a voice. We designed an extensive consultation process that reached nearly 10,000 residents through sixty events, online tools, and social media. This comprehensive approach brought in voices often left out of planning processes, especially youth and newcomers. The result is a vision for Dundas that truly reflects Mississauga's diversity. Our engagement approach has become a model for future city planning projects, showing how inclusive consultation builds support for positive change.

Urban streetscape design showing a mixed-use retail strip with widened pedestrian areas, seating, bike lanes, and landscaping.

Mississauga's Dundas Street reflects decades of suburban growth, from quiet neighborhoods to shopping malls to apartment towers. Rather than seeing this mix as a problem, we embraced it as an opportunity to create a plan that respects existing communities while enabling smart growth. We looked at the big picture across the entire corridor while also focusing on seven key areas with unique challenges. This approach ensures new development fits well with what's already there while building the population density needed for better transit.

Title page of Dundas Connects report featuring colorful circular icons and partner organization logos.

Having the right planning framework - simple to use and easy to implement - was essential for encouraging growth along the corridor and making a case for transit and other improvements.

Urban development plan showing mixed-use zones, public spaces, and transit connections along the Dixie and Dundas corridor, with building heights, community facilities, and green spaces indicated.

The plan shows how smart growth can make transit work in suburban areas. By focusing development around future transit stops and adding better walking and cycling connections, we created the foundation for bus rapid transit. The new streetscape design includes dedicated bus lanes, protected bike paths, and improved sidewalks that transform Dundas from a car-focused road into a street that works for everyone. This proves suburban corridors can evolve to serve both regional travel and local community needs.