Sidewalk Labs’ Plan for Toronto

After 18 months of high-profile resignations, local resistance, and lots of “listening,” Google-affiliate Sidewalk Labs finally released its master plan to redevelop a swath of Toronto’s waterfront as a sensor-laden neighbourhood on Monday. For example, Sidewalk Labs is advocating for new mass transit in Toronto (which it may help to fund) to make getting to Quayside easier, a new public administrator for the IDEA District, and modified legal regulations for the district to implement some of its plans. Adding yet another wrinkle to the situation is a lawsuit moving through the courts against all three levels of Canadian government by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA), which argues that Waterfront Toronto didn’t have the authority to enter into an agreement with Sidewalk Labs and that government essentially abdicated its responsibilities to the public to a corporation.

Source: www.vice.com