It’s unsettling reading into Sidewalk Labs’ urban redevelopment plan for Toronto – the Google sister-company’s plan strikes an eerie resemblance to my old university seminar presentation for Creative Innovation, for all the wrong reasons.
Both Sidewalk Labs and my Creative Innovation seminar group have looked for a way to invest in urban communities and bring Torontonians together in city space. But whereas my university colleagues and I shared a passionate (if not idealistic) view of community-living and supporting local businesses, Sidewalk Labs has a different agenda.
Originally pitched as a neighbourhood built from the “Internet up”, Sidewalk Lab’s Toronto proposal is a master plan that encompasses most of the Toronto waterfront. The project envisions a much larger scope of Smart-living (complete with affordable housing, data collection and a 3.9-billion-dollar investment in the Quay-side area). u However, this brings forward political, technological, and practical concerns. These issues raise the question: does this plan actually help Torontonians, or does it only benefit the company investing in it?
Toronto is a city in desperate need of an urban makeover; Its transit system hasn’t seen any significant changes for the past 30 years, and the city has an ongoing crisis with affordable housing. So, an investment in Toronto’s neighbourhoods may not be such a bad idea. However, distrust in technology and anxiety over an international corporation’s influence have left people believing that this is a questionable direction for development.
The most pressing concern is the scope of land in which Sidewalk Labs is proposing for their redevelopment project. Expanding beyond Quay-side compromises city-owned land like the Port Lands, which the government says is not up for sale.
In addition, Sidewalk Labs needs the approval from all three levels of government in order for the project to move forward. Stephen Diamond, chair of the agency that regulates waterfront properties, argues that he would like to see one smaller project succeed before approving multiple projects for the corporation. Conveniently, Sidewalk Labs made a statement that their interest in pursuing the project would lessen if the governments do not allow the expansion of their project proposal.
Both Premier Doug Ford and City Councilor Paula Fletcher, whose ward falls under most of the proposed sites of Sidewalks Labs, pointed out that the project could be a “land grab” of Toronto real-estate worth billions by a high-profile American company.. Premier Ford also mentioned that Sidewalk Labs would likely get approval if they stuck to the 12-acre plan. from his point of view, he saw the project as a big company trying to do the right thing for the company, not for the taxpayers.
The most frightening problem with Sidewalk Labs’ urban utopia is the reality of its data collection. The Innovative Development and Economic Acceleration (IDEA) district (the name of the community Sidewalk Labs plans to build) will have traffic lights with sensors and cameras that collect data on pedestrians’ activity. This information is will be kept in the Urban Data Trust (UDT). On the surface, the trust appears legitimate; it seeks to use the information to help Torontonians and will not use the data for advertising purposes. However, the details of the UDT’s privacy policies and legislation have yet to be addressed by Sidewalk Labs. The company’s vague aims regarding its the data collection aren’t appealing to the public considering that privacy issues in technology are a problem now more than ever.
The proposed project also affects the legal realm of Toronto life. Since Sidewalk Labs is proposing revitalizing the community through monitoring traffic activity, provincial and municipal regulations could potentially be rewritten, particularly the City of Toronto Act and the Ontario Highway Traffic Act. While there is nothing wrong in theory with new changes affecting legislature, typically these changes are civic in nature and address issues of human rights or resource distribution; they do not usually involve privileging a corporation’s aim for expansion.
On a whole, there is good to be seen in investing in an urban community and looking to expand on the potential of neighbourhoods. Politics and economics play an important role in how we enact change in this world, and it is important to consider how a company like Sidewalk Labs may have big ideas for a futuristic kind of living. However, its motivations, like most corporations, lie primarily in land and what is best for the company, not necessarily for the people.
By Meagan Gove
Please note that opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views and values of The Blank Page.
