Interesting that they make this point:
That is one of the main reasons Alphabet/Google's Sidewalk Toronto neighbourhood was cancelled. People did not like the privacy concerns and letting a major corporation run an entire neighbourhood.
But anyway, I feel the whole "tech capital of Canada" thing is just a cheap marketing gimmick the tech companies like to throw around, the city itself isn't "smart" - yet. We happen to have a few major tech companies (as well as many startups) based here and have a prestigious university, but very little of this is actually felt in the city itself. I imagine as the years go on we'll see a lot more of this stuff, but as that quote mentions, I'd hope it would be democratic.
Quote:“The big threat is loss of autonomy,” says Jan-Willem Wesselink of Future City Foundation, a Dutch network of municipal agencies, civil society organizations, universities and technology companies seeking to promote a more democratic approach to smart urbanism that aligns with one of the U.N.’s 17 sustainable development goals (number 11) about resilient, sustainable and inclusive cities. “Does Google or some other company decide how you use the city?”
That is one of the main reasons Alphabet/Google's Sidewalk Toronto neighbourhood was cancelled. People did not like the privacy concerns and letting a major corporation run an entire neighbourhood.
But anyway, I feel the whole "tech capital of Canada" thing is just a cheap marketing gimmick the tech companies like to throw around, the city itself isn't "smart" - yet. We happen to have a few major tech companies (as well as many startups) based here and have a prestigious university, but very little of this is actually felt in the city itself. I imagine as the years go on we'll see a lot more of this stuff, but as that quote mentions, I'd hope it would be democratic.