We need more urban innovation projects like the ‘Google City’. This is why

  • Date: 23-Sep-2020
  • Source: World Economic Forum
  • Sector:Technology
  • Country:Middle East
  • Who else needs to know?

We need more urban innovation projects like the ‘Google City’. This is why

Sidewalk Labs, owned by Google's parent company Alphabet, has pulled out of a new, large-scale urban development in Toronto;

How we test digital innovation in a physical space is a huge challenge and attracts both critics and risks;

Without lots of experimentation, led by start-ups, however, we will not drive urban innovation forward or find a path to healthy urban futures.



One of the lesser-known casualties of COVID-19 is a new, large-scale urban development in Toronto led by Google's sibling company, Sidewalk Labs. Several years in the making, the "Google City“, as it is sometimes called by the media, has ultimately come to a halt because of the ongoing recession.

Public perception has, however, stymied the development's entire lifespan with some activists labelling it an "800-acre surveillance state“. While