Google’s Sidewalk Labs Signs on to Build the First “Smart City” in Toronto

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The city of tomorrow is here now. Sidewalk Labs, owned by Google’s parent company Alphabet, has won a competition run by Waterfront Toronto to develop a section of Toronto’s waterfront into a high-tech and experimental “smart city”.

The plan is to mobilize data-driven technology to innovate the way cities function and increase quality of life for its residents.

This involves using data about everything from traffic flow, to noise, to air quality, and much more, to feed into a responsive, urban, ecosystem that will make data-driven improvements to the living and working space of residents.

Waterfront Toronto, an agency funded by all three levels of government, struck a deal with Sidewalk Labs to develop a 12-acre section of the Toronto waterfront as a seed project for a larger development code-named “Quayside”.

Sidewalk Labs CEO Daniel Doctoroff, a former deputy mayor of New York City under Michael Bloomberg, clarifies, “By leveraging technology and combining it with really smart, people-centric, urban planning, we could have really dramatic impacts on quality of life.”

The plans, made public last week in a 200-plus page document, are an ambitious combination of city planning, industrial design, and construction. Imagine a city with no private cars – instead, autonomous vehicles and robots moving freight. App-rendered services, self-driving buses, wind shields, and heated sidewalks in winter are just some of the features proposed.

Everything would be measured, from movement of goods and people, to energy consumption. And, these numbers would be crunched to drive increased efficiencies. For example, the new pre-fab modular buildings in this area, it is claimed, would lead to a 95% reduction in energy consumption. The idea is a greener, smarter city that will drive innovations that the rest of Canada and even the world may one day adopt.

Sidewalk Labs Quayside development map

Image from: Google firm wins competition to build high-tech Quayside neighbourhood in Toronto

The project is a unique combination of public and private initiative. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, and Toronto Mayor John Tory were all in attendance to celebrate the announcement with Alphabet’s Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt.

Mr. Tory declared, “By having Sidewalk interested in coming here, we’re building up our credentials as the place to be in the world.”

“We are taking a bold bet that innovative technology and forward thinking urban design can make fundamental improvements in city life.”
– Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Alphabet

The initial investment is $50 million dollars USD with a plan to expand eventually to over 3 million square feet of commercial and residential space, and create a testing ground for using cutting-edge technology to improve urban areas.

Their ambitious goal, as stated in their press release, is to create “a new type of place that combines the best in urban design with the latest in digital technology to address some of the biggest challenges facing cities, including energy use, housing affordability and transportation.”

 


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