Waterfront Toronto Greenlights Most of Sidewalk Labs' Quayside Master Plan

Donovan Vincent reports that a six-member evaluation committee tasked with assessing Sidewalk Labs' proposal for the Toronto waterfront neighborhood of Quayside.

"The technical evaluation by Waterfront Toronto staff, released Tuesday [February 18], says of the 160 'solutions' or innovations Google sister firm Sidewalk Labs has put forward in its master plan for the proposed 12-acre neighbourhood, a large majority — 144 innovations or 90 per cent — meet Waterfront Toronto’s objectives," explains Vincent.

"The list of innovations supported by Waterfront Toronto will be prioritized, and the number may be pared down by the agency and Sidewalk Labs to fit the 12-acre Quayside, Waterfront Toronto says."

The innovations winning approval from Waterfront Toronto include "a mass timber factory producing materials for the construction for wood buildings, robots that detect when trash bins are full, roofs covered in vegetation to reduce stormwater runoff, a patent pledge of Sidewalk Labs’ digital innovations that would support the growth of Canadian innovations, and the use of common standards for digital systems and technologies used at Quayside." The article also lists some of the 16 innovations that didn't pass muster.