Discussion

• @mims @mims on x

  “smart cities” really were the pinnacle of a bygone era of techno-utopian solutionism, born at a time when “don't be evil” was still plausible as a corporate mantra and you could say “data is the new oil” with a straight face https://www.wsj.com/...

• @cadinnovators Canadian Innovators on x

  Our country has some of the world's best smart city innovators and we urge @WaterfrontTO to re-start the project with the view of protecting Canadian civil and digital rights and advancing economic development for the benefit of Canadian economy rather than Silicon Valley. -CCI🇨🇦…

• @rob_fiehn Rob Fiehn on x

  Google: “building cities is easy, watch this.” Also Google: https://www.wired.com/...

• @shoshanazuboff Shoshana Zuboff on x

  Friends! Sidewalk Labs/Alphabet withdrawal from Toronto is a victory for democracy over #SurveillanceCapitalism. Thanks to #BlockSidewalk @cancivlib & more who fought for a democratic digital future. SC isn't inevitable. We decide. A big day. @biancawylie https://tinyurl.com/...

• @gommunisd Jacob Rees-Pawg on x

  People of Toronto, I suggest you start thanking the good Lord in Heaven that you just narrowly missed this. https://twitter.com/...

• @motherboard @motherboard on x

  The Google affiliate tried to sell Canada's biggest city on robotic package delivery and heated sidewalks alongside unprecedented data collection, and now it's gone the way of many an abandoned Google project. https://www.vice.com/...

• @seanmcarroll Sean Carroll on x

  I shared surveillance-dystopia worries about Google's planned high-tech neighborhood in Toronto, but was curious about how it would turn out. Pandemic has now scuttled the project. https://www.nytimes.com/...

• @walrusmagazine @walrusmagazine on x

  Google's Sidewalk Labs' has abandoned their ambitious plans for a “smart city” in Toronto. But from the start, many viewed the project as a bellwether of the age of surveillance capitalism. https://thewalrus.ca/...

• @charlieangusndp Charlie Angus Ndp on x

  Google's Eric Schmidt said: “We started thinking about all the things we could do if someone would just give us a city and put us in charge.” @JustinTrudeau obliged. The liberals played a huge role in the surveillance city scheme. It was a bad policy. https://www.theguardian.com/…

• @robertkennedyjr Robert F. Kennedy Jr on x

  Toronto's “Smart-City” project was supposed to be a flagship project for @Google and for “smart” cities. But once the elaborate plans were submitted, privacy experts and other town planners said the technology involved was excessively invasive. #5G https://www.theglobeandmail.com…

• @b_momani Bessma Momani on x

  This might be disappointing for many who marvelled in the idea of smart cities, but for those who have been screaming that the privacy and cybersecurity considerations of having a company like Google have the ‘big brother’ power to surveil its residents, this is welcomed news....…

• @natehoodstp Nate Hood on x

  It's a damn shame that we won't get to see what a — publicly-subsidized, corporately-owned, ad-revenue funded top-down, constantly-connected IoT surveillance-based “Smart City” made with cross-laminated timber with tunnels and millennials would look like. https://twitter.com/...

• @daeaves David Eaves on x

  This feels 40% COVID, 60% other challenges. I've been telling people I thought the odds were not good, but still surprising to see it end. Google affiliate Sidewalk Labs abandons Toronto smart-city project /via @globeandmail https://www.theglobeandmail.com/ ...

• @davidjmadden David Madden on x

  Toronto just dodged a massive bullet https://www.theglobeandmail.com/ ...

• @dk_munro Daniel Munro on x

  Sidewalk Labs cancels Toronto smart city project. “It has become too difficult to make the 12-acre project financially viable without sacrificing core parts of the plan we had developed” CEO Dan Doctoroff said in a statement. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/ ...

• @isaackrasny Isaac Krasny on x

  This is bonkers. And sad. They've probably spent a ton on this. Would have loved to see this project realized. https://twitter.com/...

• @alexbozikovic Alex Bozikovic on x

  Alphabet's @sidewalklabs is killing its Toronto smart-city project. Announcement: https://medium.com/...

• @scott_stinson Scott Stinson on x

  It has taken 2+ years, but my commitment to never entirely understanding Sidewalk Labs has paid off. https://twitter.com/...

• @allisomething @allisomething on x

  nature is healing we are the virus https://twitter.com/...

• @oconnellpostbiz Jonathan O'Connell on x

  So much for Google redefining urban planning https://twitter.com/...

• @sidewalklabs Sidewalk Labs on x

  Our decision not to pursue the Quayside project was a very difficult one. We are grateful to the countless Torontonians who contributed to the effort, and for the support we received from community groups, civic leaders, & local residents. Thank you https://medium.com/... (1/3) h…

• @marklamster Mark Lamster on x

  wasn't the smart city supposed to be resilient? i stan for the dumb-ass city. https://twitter.com/...

• @davidhuber_ David Huber on x

  Good. But also: wild that we entrusted city-making to companies that can, just like that, walk away (or “kill” a project) https://twitter.com/...

• @a_w_gordon Aaron W. Gordon on x

  A lot of companies are going to use “unprecedented economic uncertainty” as cover to cancel projects for other reasons. My hunch is that's what's going on here with Sidewalk Labs cancelling the Toronto project, which a lot of people hated. https://medium.com/...

• @nicoleverkindt Nicole Verkindt on x

  This is sad. I was really excited about the opportunity for a win win win and positioning Toronto as the test city for the rest of the world. https://twitter.com/...

• @joshokane Josh O'Kane on x

  Sidewalk Labs pitched Toronto on building the city of the future. Instead, it was met with two and a half years of controversy over its origins, overreach, and privacy and financial implications. Now the project is cancelled. An obituary for a dream: https://www.theglobeandmail.c…