CITY PLANNING, DESIGN, AND PROGRAMMING FOR INDIGENOUS URBANISM AND ETHNOCULTURAL DIVERSITY IN WINNIPEG A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Department of Geography and Planning University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By SAREM MM NEJAD © Copyright Sarem MM Nejad, March 2018. All rights reserved. Permission to Use In presenting this thesis/dissertation in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a Postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the Libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis/dissertation in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis/dissertation work or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis/dissertation or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any scholarly use which may be made of any material in my thesis/dissertation. Requests for permission to copy or to make other uses of materials in this thesis/dissertation in whole or part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of Geography and Planning Kirk Hall Building 117 Science Place University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5C8 Canada OR Dean College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies University of Saskatchewan 116 Thorvaldson Building, 110 Science Place Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5C9 Canada i Abstract The production and programming of urban space and place have long been applied to eliminate Indigenous peoples from urban areas and minimise their cultural influence. This thesis investigates Indigenous inclusion in planning processes and placemaking practices in Winnipeg. In this regard, the thesis sought to address critical gaps in the academic literature on Indigenous urbanism and urban planning. Through the analysis of the perspectives gathered from participants, each principal chapter explores a primary objective of the thesis. First, the thesis illustrates that Indigenous inhabitants of Winnipeg feel high levels of social and spatial injustice and invisibility. While Indigenous communities are seeking to participate in urban life, the mechanisms that the municipal administration applies to engage with them are not transformative and reconciliatory. Second, the thesis examines how the design and programming of the built environment of settler cities have played a significant role in the dispossession of Indigenous urban inhabitants and how urban design could function as an empowerment practice. Third, the thesis problematises multiculturalism policies and the ways urban planning approaches ethnocultural diversity and difference. Findings of the study reveal that the fulfilment of the Indigenous right to urbanism would consist of the transformation of existing decision-making and planning processes and procedures on the basis of the recognition of original occupancy and the right to self-determination. Situating Indigenous planning methods as well as resurgent acts of planning and placemaking into pre-existing structures will help Indigenous communities to re- territorialise urban space and advance Indigenous urbanism. Additionally, placemaking has the transformative capacity of reversing the negative symbolic capital associated with Indigenous peoples. To transcend beyond tokenism, Indigenous cultural representation in the built form should not be bound to Eurocentric frameworks and subordinated by the settler mainstream narratives. Furthermore, findings illustrate that Indigenous and ethnocultural diversity groups have started their coexistence in Winnipeg. Foregrounding the broad discourse of diversity and difference helps to demonstrate how urban planning and design is lagging behind the emergent hyper-diversity in Canadian cities. Through increasing the level of literacy and competency in coping with ethnocultural diversity, Indigeneity, and difference, planners and municipal officials could play a better role in enhancing interculturalism. ii Acknowledgements I sincerely thank my supervisor, Professor Ryan Walker, for his continuous support and encouragement throughout this research journey. I am hugely privileged to have had Dr. Walker as my supervisor. I cannot imagine accomplishing my PhD thesis without his exceptional knowledge, leadership, and flexibility in accommodating my approach to research design and the choice of research topics. I am also grateful for the financial assistance I received through Dr. Walker’s grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. I would like to extend thanks to the members of my PhD advisory committee at the University of Saskatchewan for their tremendous help and devotion of time to reading and evaluating my work: Joe Garcea, Xulin Guo, Paul Hackett, and Bob Patrick. I would also like to thank Dr. Leela Viswanathan for serving as my external examiner. I appreciate her time and interest in my research. She offered a wonderful critical perspective and insightful comments and questions during the defence session. I also thank Phyllis Baynes and other staff at the Department of Geography and Planning. I also acknowledge the interview participants in Winnipeg who shared their perspectives on the urban issues discussed in this research. I appreciate their insights and they were fundamental in elaborating concepts and discussions throughout this thesis. The fieldwork was undertaken with the help of Maeengan Linklater, the research facilitator in Winnipeg. I acknowledge his collaboration. I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to my wonderful family for their kindness and inspiration, above all my mother, Azar, my father, Hooshang, and my sister, Sara. Your inspiration and encouragement empowered me to live and study this far from you. iii Dedication I dedicate this thesis to my wonderful wife, Narges, for her unconditional love, patience, and support. I am truly grateful for having you in my life. iv Table of Contents Permission to Use ........................................................................................................................... i Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... iii Dedication ..................................................................................................................................... iv Table of Contents ...........................................................................................................................v List of Tables .............................................................................................................................. viii List of Figures ............................................................................................................................... ix Chapter One Introduction ...........................................................................................................1 1.1 Purpose and Objectives ........................................................................................................4 1.2 Research Methods ................................................................................................................9 1.2.1 Research Limitations ........................................................................................................... 14 1.3 Study Context: Indigeneity, Settlement, and Immigration Processes in Winnipeg ...........16 1.3.1 Indigenous Peoples in Winnipeg ......................................................................................... 16 1.3.2 Métis Nation and its Role in the Evolution of Winnipeg .................................................... 21 1.3.3 The Forks: Placemaking in Winnipeg’s Signature Downtown Public Space ..................... 23 1.3.4 Immigration and Ethnocultural Diversity in Winnipeg ....................................................... 30 1.4 Organisation of Thesis .......................................................................................................33 Chapter Two Urban Planning and Indigenous Urbanism in Winnipeg .................................36 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................36 2.2 Conceptualising Spatial Production, City Planning, and the Indigenous Right to Urbanism ....................................................................................................................................39 2.2.1 The Production of Urban Space, the Right to the City, and the Indigenous Right to Difference ......................................................................................................................................... 40 2.2.2 Urban Planning Paradigms and Creating Capacities for Coexistence ................................ 45 2.2.3 Indigenous Resurgence, Indigenous Planning .................................................................... 50 2.2.4 Conclusion to the