SMART CITY
Sidewalk Labs tout self-driving vehicles as big part of Quayside vision of Toronto’s waterfront,
Self-driving cars replacing privately owned vehicles. High-tech sensors and cameras collecting data to improve quality of life. Parks within 100 metres for all residents to use 12 months a year.
These are just a few ideas proposed by Daniel Doctoroff, CEO of Sidewalk Labs, the city-building arm of Google set to develop Quayside, a 4.8-hectare “smart city” on Toronto’s eastern waterfront and a start for his plan to expand the company’s footprint to almost 325 hectares of the Port Lands.
Waterfront Toronto selected Sidewalk Labs to develop Quayside in October. Doctoroff and Will Fleissig, the CEO of Waterfront Toronto, discussed their plans Wednesday with the Star’s editorial board.
“We’re at the dawn of a fourth revolution . . . and that is what I would call the digital-networked revolution,” said Doctoroff, who served as deputy mayor of New York when billionaire mogul Michael Bloomberg ran the Big Apple.
“We can come up with something so powerful that it helps to establish Toronto as the global hub . . . in global urban innovation.”
Doctoroff touted self-driving vehicles as a major aspect of the prospective district.
“The streets will be narrower and the streets will be safer,” he said, adding autonomous cars would “eliminate much of the infrastructure that clutters up a street” such as traffic lights, signs and road markings.
Asked about banning human-driven cars within Quayside, he said “that would be something to be discussed.”
He also plans to integrate public infrastructure, such as the TTC, and cut the transportation costs of residents in half.
As a “smart city,” Quayside would use sensors and cameras to collect data on the environment, noise levels and traffic — meant to improve quality of life, according to Doctoroff.
One application of this technology would be using cameras to analyze traffic flows to improve commutes.
Addressing privacy concerns, Doctoroff said they would implement “privacy by design” into their technology to ensure citizens feel secure.
The data itself will be open for people to use and access. Doctoroff and Fleissig said they are not yet sure who will be responsible for it but entertained the idea of a “data trust,” overseen by an independent board.
Quayside can solve many of the city’s issues including affordable housing, Fleissig said.
A portion of housing units in Quayside will be “affordable,” subsidized homes that would allow Quayside’s population to “reflect the socioeconomic diversity” of the city, according to Micah Lasher, the head of external affairs at Sidewalk Labs.
Amid questions over who will benefit from the development of public land, the partners released a fourpage summary of their agreement.
Both Sidewalk Labs and Waterfront Toronto had been tight-lipped about their plans in recent weeks, but Doctoroff said they are now “ready to be really open with people.”
They said they will also prioritize listening to the public to hear their thoughts about the project. That process started Wednesday night at a town hall at the St. Lawrence Centre, where hundreds of Torontonians packed a theatre for the launch of public consultations.
Outside, protesters from housing advocate ACORN chanted “Stop the war on the poor, make the rich pay.” With files from David Rider