Google’s plans to build a city from “the internet up” in Toronto have moved a step closer.
The internet giant’s Sidewalk Labs division this week signed a development plan agreement with Waterfront Toronto to build the 12-acre high-tech Quayside neighbourhood at Lake Shore Boulevard East and Parliament Street.
Waterfront Toronto said the plan envisioned “a new kind of mixed-use, complete community by combining forward thinking urban design, new digital technology and other innovative solutions to create a neighbourhood that sets new standards for urban living while supporting Canada’s growing cleantech, construction and technology sectors”.
The proposal will see streets reserved for driverless cars and cyclists; mixed-use, low-cost wood composite buildings; winter “mitigation” devices including heated paths; and automated trash pickup through underground chambers, with computer sensors analysing everything from vehicle flow to weather.
The new planning document replaces a framework agreement signed in October 2017, and now sees Waterfront Toronto retain ownership of land at the site – it was to be transferred to Sidewalk. It will also not be obligated to invest money for this stage. Sidewalks will invest as much as $50m (£38m).
The planned development agreement also drops language identifying Sidewalk Labs as a co-master developer. Waterfront Toronto is now the “revitalisation lead” and Sidewalk Labs the “innovation and funding partner”.
It promises that Quayside will feature “the most privacy protected/citizen-centered set of policies and governance structures in the world, recognising privacy as a fundamental human right”.
More work will be done on data privacy and protection ahead of final agreement being signed off.
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