When Canada launched its initial Smart Cities Challenge, the initiative was the first of its kind in the country. For peers, it had gleaming European capitals and star cities like Amsterdam, London, and Barcelona. The hope was that the challenge – and its $50 million grand prize – would help the country make a great leap forward in technology adoption and application.
To a degree, that initial push succeeded. However, it was a one-time experiment that ended in 2019. Though funds have allegedly been allocated for a second challenge, no details about that have been announced. Instead, communities and cities around the country are getting involved on their own to move forward with their own visions of smart cities.
Toronto opts for a Quayside 2.0 development plan
In the first push for Toronto to embrace the Smart Cities model, the Quayside area was targeted for a special development project with Sidewalk Labs. The initial proposal was for a very data driven model, bolstered by autonomous functionality and drone-assisted deliveries, among other hyper-modern quirks. However, this model, which would have required residents of the area to be near-continually monitored by a variety of devices and systems, felt too cold, technical, and intrusive.
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