The future of the city is here. Sidewalk Labs, a company owned by Alphabet (which also owns Google), won a competition to design a neighborhood by Lake Ontario. The competition was held as a way to improve the buildings, public spaces, and transportation in the area. There are 12 acres of space to begin with, although Sidewalk Labs hopes to develop a total of 80 acres in the future. Government officials, academics, and activists will also be working with Sidewalk Labs on this project. In total, the planning phase should last one year.

Dan Doctoroff, the CEO of Sidewalk Labs, says he imagines this as a place where the streets are full of activity. The city of Toronto has promised $1.25 billion for roads, sidewalks, electricity, water, and so on. Sidewalk Labs has already put $50 million into the project. Doctoroff says he is not worried about money; he stated that profit can be made from the technology and development. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also said the project would bring well-paying jobs to the city.
Design ideas

The neighborhood has already been given the name “Quayside.” When finished, it will include various high-tech and environmentally-friendly innovations. These include heated sidewalks and bike paths to melt snow, self-driving buses, and shared-ride taxibots. There will also be narrower streets with less cars and more room for public spaces like parks.

As for construction, the buildings will be made of plastic instead of wood or steel, to make them more affordable and easier to change. Underground passages will be used for trash collection, package delivery, and for maintenance. In order to access areas such as the gym, request maintenance, or even ask the neighbors to quiet down, residents will have user accounts.

There will also be environmentally-friendly energy systems, changeable traffic lights, and continuous improvement through data collection and analysis. This data will come from sensors collecting information about traffic flow, noise levels, air quality, energy usage, travel patterns, and waste output.
Criticisms and possible problems

There are, of course, many concerns about the project. One criticism is that there is already a housing crisis in Toronto, and making an expensive, hi-tech neighborhood won’t help with that. It is important for Quayside to be accessible to the elderly, the disabled, and people of diverse races and income levels – not only the people who typically work at tech companies.

Another concern is about data collection and residents’ privacy. In response, Doctoroff said that the data collection will only be used to improve the quality of life in Quayside. He added that privacy can be built into every aspect of the neighborhood.

Since this kind of neighborhood is new and unique, no doubt there will be many issues, and new laws will have to be written for this kind of hi-tech housing. Hopefully its flexibility will allow it to overcome those issues. In any case, it will be interesting to see the evolution of this futuristic neighborhood.