New Roots Community Land Trust strategic plan and housing strategy

The New Roots Community Land Trust aims to ensure that African Nova Scotians are included in shaping the future of the Cogswell Interchange in Halifax. Happy Cities supported NRCLT by leading community engagement, creating an outreach strategy, and developing a housing strategy and business plan.

Community mural summarizing the hopes and visions for the Cogswell Interchange in Halifax’s North End. (Happy Cities)

The urban renewal movement in Canada tore apart many Black communities to build highways, and Halifax’s North End was no exception, with approximately 6,000 African Nova Scotians displaced through the urban renewal process. 

In the 1960s, the construction of the Cogswell Interchange led to the demolishing of 10 blocks of homes and local businesses and the displacement of the African Nova Scotian community to an area further away known as Mulgrave Park. After its construction, the Cogswell Interchange became an area that the Halifax community referred to as a “mistake” and an “eyesore”—it was large, not friendly to pedestrians, and completely separated the North End from the downtown core and the waterfront.

Mulgrave Park in 1953. (Halifax Municipal Archives)

Cogswell Interchange in 2016. (Ben MacLeod, Wikimedia Commons)

Over the past decade, Halifax Regional Municipality has been planning to demolish the interchange. Through the Cogswell Interchange Lands Plan, it aims to create a walkable community with public spaces, homes, and businesses. 

About the New Roots Community Land Trust

The New Roots Community Land Trust (NRCLT) formed with the goal of ensuring that the African Nova Scotian North End community is included in this redevelopment project. The African Nova Scotian-led non-profit aims to secure the economic and cultural legacy of the North End African Nova Scotian Community.

Happy Cities worked with NRCLT and the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia to create a community vision and overall strategy for the site, supporting its vision to build a mixed-use, mixed-market development on the Cogswell site—complete with community spaces, a Black cultural and recreational centre, and commercial spaces for Black-owned businesses.

An early housing concept for incorporating the communities visions and aspirations for the Cogswell Site. New Roots Community Land Trust envisions housing that will include mixed-market units, as well as spaces for recreation, community gathering, childcare, healthcare, and Black-owned businesses. (Happy Cities)

To further develop these strategies and hear community input, Happy Cities supported NRCLT in engagement and community outreach. Our team developed a website for the organization, and created an online survey about the proposal for Cogswell. Additionally, Happy Cities helped with door-to-door engagement and facilitated a community event in August 2024 to hear from African Nova Scotian residents in Halifax’s North End, while sharing information about the NRCLT to the wider community. After hearing from the community, we developed a housing strategy and business plan NRCLT with strategic initiatives to help the NRCLT continue to grow and reach their goals. 

Photos from the Voices of the North End event. The event held a community engagement session, a panel, and a membership drive complete with food, games and music. (Happy Cities)

Community land trusts provide unique opportunities for community-led development that can build capacity and uplift communities who have been historically excluded in land-use planning. The New Roots Community Land Trust shows how community members can contribute in the  shaping of housing strategies for years to come, and can help to secure the future of the ANS community in Halifax’s North End and in Cogswell.