Exploring Islamophobia in land use regulations: the case of the city of Mississauga

Building community spaces is important for immigrant communities: it helps transform the sterility of an unfamiliar new city into home. Muslims have historically sought to make cities their own by building mosques that have served spiritual, social and symbolic functions as architectural sites. This essay examines what the interplay between settlement of newcomers and new types of land use applications and what it tells readers about municipal gaps in addressing the question of “difference” in Canada using the City of Mississauga as a case study. It starts with a review of the history and context of mosque building in Canada, follows up by examining land use policies in Mississauga, and then looks at controversial mosque development issues by examining official city and provincial documents including one Human Rights Complaint. This paper wraps up by presenting recommendations for municipalities to better navigate the question of difference through policy and praxis. Keywords: Islamophobia, land‐use planning, urban planning, racism, exclusion, xenophobia, Mississauga, public policy