Dixie Mall, Mississauga, Canada

Project Summary

The Dixie Mall redesign project aimed to revitalise the existing monofuctional grey-scape by adopting a nature-first approach and creating a more climate resilient development. 

The main objectives of the project were to increase the user’s access to nature, enhance ecosystem interconnectedness, and implement biomimicry strategies aligned with natural systems. The project also presented an opportunity to recreate the mall’s ecosystem while considering economic productivity.

bioSEA worked with Biomimcry Frontiers to develop an ecological strategy for the masterplan. Additionally, we conducted an ecosystem service evaluation and provided recommendations on optimising these services by incorporating ecological elements. The evaluation involved comparing four scenarios: existing site condition, proposed design, Two planet scenario, and One planet scenario. The fictional Two planet scenario represented strategies that functioned within a hypothetical living condition requiring two planets to sustain the human population.

The results showed that the proposed design outperformed the existing site by up to 90% in terms of air pollutant removal and sequestered 52% more carbon through strategic incorporation of greenery. When compared to the One planet and Two planet scenarios, the One planet scenario, with its intensified green design and nature-based solutions, demonstrated the potential to perform up to five times better in air pollutant removal and three times better in providing shading and regulating air temperatures. The Two planet scenario, which lacked a nature-centric approach, showed only a 30% improvement in various ecosystem services.

Based on the assessment, context-appropriate nature-based solutions were suggested to achieve the desired outcomes. The results of the One planet scenario highlighted that the right combination of solutions could reduce long-term costs, while constructing a sustainable, equitable, and resilient development that benefits key stakeholders and the Dixie Mall community.