Is Sidewalk’s departure the end of the road? 10 lessons for communities building their own smart and inclusive cities

Author James Chan
What role should technology play?

Why It Matters

Sidewalk Labs’ dream was to build a next-generation, high-tech neighbourhood in Toronto as a showcase for what cities of the future could look like. It was one of the highest-profile and most anticipated projects of its kind, anywhere in the world. Their successes, failures, and decision to walk away has lessons for communities across Canada.

In early May, Google’s NYC-based sister company Sidewalk Labs announced its decision to not proceed with Quayside, a smart technology-enabled neighbourhood on Toronto’s redeveloping waterfront. Sidewalk had been working with the government agency Waterfront Toronto for the past two and a half years in what was one of the highest-profile and most anticipated smart city developments in the world, culminating in a 1,500 page

 

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