Smart City – The Failure Case: Sidewalk Toronto

　In 2017, Sidewalk Labs, a Toronto-based organization and subsidiary of Alphabet, proposed a smart city project in Toronto, Canada. The project aimed to improve the quality of everyday life through technology. This case gives us a chance to rethink the true meaning of building a smart city.

　The project includes various aspects of building a smart city. Below are some ideas they have proposed:?

• Building: Using Modular Homes, which hold the advantage of being cheaper, taking less time to build, and being environmentally friendly.
• Energy: Building a Smart Grid, which analyzes the real-time energy consumption and distributes the energy efficiently.
• Transportation: Developing autonomous vehicles and car-sharing systems, and meanwhile, prioritizing people’s needs when it comes to road planning. For example, they consider building a road that could warm up to melt the snow accumulation in winter.

　The failure of this project can be attributed to numerous factors, such as financial problems and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, with that said, the biggest problem is actually the privacy concerns. The sensors that collect data from residents’ daily lives are indispensable in smart cities; a large number of infrastructures in the smart city depend on the data to make decisions. The company responsible could not clearly explain how the collected information would be used and managed. The lack of transparency in its operation has led to mistrust and criticism. Citizens worry about being the guinea pig of the smart city project.

This case shows the dilemma between technology and privacy. Still, it gives us an image of what a future city may look like. With the development of technology and the rapid growth of cities, smart city development is an inevitable trend. As more and more smart cities develop, citizens have to think about what they want their homes to be like and what they can do to prepare for upcoming difficulties.

　In 2017, Toronto started a smart city plan. This initiative aims to enhance the livability and competitiveness of the city through the use of technology. While offering cost-effective modular homes and a smart grid for efficient energy distribution, it prioritized people's needs in road planning, like warming roads to melt snow accumulation. However, the plan was abandoned in 2020 due to numerous reasons. Among the biggest criticisms are privacy concerns. Despite its setbacks, smart city development remains inevitable since it has grown to a trend urging citizens to envision their future and address impending challenges.