I find it interesting there is no mention of Dr Ann Cavoukian, former Privacy Commissionner of the province of Ontario who was hired by Sidewalk labs because she famously initiated the concept of Privacy by Design, then she worked for them for some time and ended up 8 months ago resigning saying 'I’m sorry. I can’t support this. I have to resign because you committed to embedding privacy by design into every aspect of your operation'.” Her letter of resignation stated "I imagined us creating a smart city of privacy, as opposed to a smart city of surveillance". - see Wikipedia on Cavoukian.
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Sounds like a win for the city especially if a private company is footing much of the bill, the only question is why must affordable housing be included it does nothing for the neighborhood and takes away tax revenue from the city
Every 6 months or so, the "place to be" bar in my hometown area of the Catskills changed. Then the big malls were abandoned and closed in favour of the bigger malls. Then the local movie theatres closed when the megaplex opened in another town.
Still, I like the idea of a development in Toronto East that would bring worldwide attention to this great city. the Raptors can't do it alone. Or could they?
Very impressive plan, and probably necessary in a Canadian city (where federal funds to invest in urban infrastructure are minimal compared to south of the border). Very excited for this.
2
Earlier this year I moved back to the Toronto area from Montreal. In the district just west of the site in question, visible in the photo between the CN Tower and the water, I was looking to buy a condo. The lowest price for a very small, mediocre one-bedroom was over half a million dollars, with condo fees ranging from $500 to $900 a month.
If Sidewalk Labs promises to create affordable housing downtown, I say bring it, because obviously the municipal government has no interest in doing so.
7
Google is coming so it can pay less money to Toronto's engineers. Those engineers would go on to start companies of their own but instead will work for Google and America.
Canada is selling its tech future to America; it should not.
Canada and Toronto need their own Google; not to sell their engineers to Google.
Big mistake.
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@Paul Schejtman Canada's population is less than California's. It's not going to be able to make its own Google. (See: Blackberry) This is the best Plan B available.
3
People talk about privacy and ask why Google needs to know how often they flush their toilets or what % of lights are turned off at night, etc. People are acting like that's an intrusion of privacy, so Google says that the Canadian government can receive and control the data.
The irony is that many of those same people, like me, are revealing far more important data every day. Anyone who goes online, uses a cell phone, or uses apps is giving away things like their location, preferences, browsing patterns, shopping patterns, etc.
This area looks like a model for a city of the future. The people should control *all* the data, and then it seems like a model area that is far more advanced than most places.
5
@Frank,
This project is a trial run for technocracy; thus, once it's adopted in Toronto, it'll precipitously spread to as many cities as possible; eventually capturing them all.
Also, I & many others eschew all apps & use privacy-friendly browsers & search engines.
These cities will utilize 5G, with all of your information stored in the Cloud, which is notoriously easy to hack.
None of the supposed benefits proffered are necessities, as humanity has thrived without them.
As for the frequency of one's toilet being flushed: Insurance companies will gain access to this information, & raise one's premium, if they suspect an illness is the cause of increased flushing, for example—the same goes for the contents in one's "smart" refrigerator.
As for one's use of lighting: Those who can access that info will know when you're home & when you're not; setting yourself up for a burglary; or, it could indicate insomnia, which insurance companies will use as leverage against you.
Technocracy was wildly popular during The Great Depression, athough insanely untenable, back then; however, with today's tech, this form of government can be implemented; resulting in the loss of all privacy via this virtual panopticon.
Do a search for the pdf version of The Technocracy Study Course, put out by Technocracy Inc., in 1932—if I recall correctly—& you'll see that all of this "smart city" nonsense is just technocracy, repackaged.
8
that is too much fuss about privacy ! Yes, privacy is required, but then it should not be made an excuse for shying away from technology. With safeguards, data can be used for larger benefit, developing new services using data , increasing efficiency in delivery of services to users.
2
Attention all government entities that wan't to engage in expensive, exotic projects for the supposed benefit of the citizens of Toronto: How about just fixing the thousands of bone rattling potholes that exist throughout the city and we'll call it square.
13
Currently it's 800 acres of parking lots, a grain elevator, countless gravel mounds, rundown shacks and stagnant water. What's the problem? How is replacing that with a google Potemkin village such a threat to democracy, economy, sovereignty and digital "rights"? Even if it turns out to be maybe 60% of what it's envisioned as, how is that worse than what's there, or not there, now? And if you don't want your toilet flushes counted, then just stay away....
9
@Gary F.S. It’s some of the most valuable, large tract, undeveloped real estate left in the Toronto core, just east of downtown. To give it away to Google or even condo developers is a travesty. We should be using it to create a livable area with the same rights and privacy that everyone else in Toronto should have. Why should taxpayers give up this land to let Google run experiments and then have to avoid the area because they don’t want to be tracked by a foreign corporation? I don’t even understand what Torontonians even get out do this deal.
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Tech; is a 4 letter word.
Never forget that and the human race will evolve properly - or - forget it and thus forget your humaneness.
@Mrs. Sofie
...what does that even mean!
7
“I was really excited about the project, and I still believe in the vision of a tech-first community,”
What about a people-first community instead?
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@Steve Williams
That doesn't work for the bottom line of these giant international megacorps.
11
Somewhere Aldous Huxley and George Orwell are having a drink and laughing about who really did the better job of predicting the future.
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I'm glad someone has managed to look past the colorful logo and utopian rhetoric to realize there's a dark side, and it leads to dystopia.
14
How many failed master-planned urban mega-hoods do we need to witness before the whole notion is discredited as it long ago should have been? In San Francisco, Mission Bay, developed by the train track repurposing spin-off of a railroad giant, Catellus, has made for a windswept dystopia. We call it Gattica. In Manhattan the Hudson Yards, Battery Park and South Street Seaport all share that same eerie Sci-fi empty ‘Westworld without the Robots’ vibe. And this new crop of people whose whole social landscape is a virtual network of smart phone contacts and ear-budded anonymity? Are we supposed to trust them - as they talk to themselves and tune out the world we inhabit - to build yet another new ‘new urbanism’ that will delight our senses and enrich city life?
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@Mia
Some of what you say may be true, but clearly you have not been to Hudson Yards, which is packed with tourists gawking at the mall and the Wastebasket. Battery Park is always full on nice days, mostly with residents and students, and the Seaport is overwhelmed with people. Nothing at all empty, whatever you think of the architecture.
12