{"id":15908,"date":"2019-10-31T12:35:36","date_gmt":"2019-10-31T19:35:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=15908"},"modified":"2019-11-07T12:21:23","modified_gmt":"2019-11-07T19:21:23","slug":"sidewalk-labs-document-reveals-companys-early-vision-for-data-collection-tax-powers-criminal-justice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=15908","title":{"rendered":"Sidewalk Labs document reveals company’s early vision for data collection, tax powers, criminal justice"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOM CARDOSO<\/a>\u00a0JOSH KANE<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

TECHNOLOGY REPORTER<\/span><\/p>\n

PUBLISHED OCTOBER 30, 2019<\/span><\/p>\n

A confidential Sidewalk Labs document from 2016 lays out the founding vision of the Google-affiliated development company, which included having the power to levy its own property taxes, track and predict peoples movements and control some public services.<\/span><\/p>\n

The document, which The Globe and Mail has seen, also describes how people living in a Sidewalk community would interact with and have access to the space around them \u201c an experience based, in part, on how much data they’re willing to share, and which could ultimately be used to reward people for good behaviour.<\/span><\/p>\n

Known internally as the\u00a0yellow book,<\/span><\/a>\u00a0the document was designed as a pitch book for the company, and predates Sidewalks relationship and formal agreements with Toronto by more than a year. Peppered with references to Disney theme parks and noted futurist Buckminster Fuller, it says Sidewalk intended to overcome cynicism about the future.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the 437-page book documents how much private control of city services and city life Google parent company Alphabet Inc. leadership envisioned when it created the company, which could soon be entitled to some of the most valuable underdeveloped real estate in North America,\u00a0estimated by one firm<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to be worth more than half-a-billion dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since 2017, Sidewalk has been in negotiations with the government agency Waterfront Toronto to redevelop a lucrative section of the citys derelict eastern waterfront. Both parties have been working toward a development deal ahead of an Oct. 31 vote, which \u00a0The Globe reported Tuesday<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is expected to be on terms that are favourable to Waterfront Toronto. That includes a reduction in the amount of land Sidewalk would have control over, better guarantees for privacy in the neighbourhood and better opportunities for Canadian entities to profit from innovations there.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sidewalk Labs was announced as a Google sister company in June, 2015, with considerable enthusiasm from Google co-founder Larry Page, and is run by former New York City deputy mayor Dan Doctoroff.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ideas contained in this 2016 internal paper represent the result of a wide-ranging brainstorming process very early in the company’s history,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sidewalk spokesperson Keerthana Rang said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Many, if not most, of the ideas it contains were never under consideration for Toronto or discussed with Waterfront Toronto and governments. The ideas that we are actually proposing \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which we believe will achieve a new model of inclusive urban growth that makes housing more affordable for families, creates new jobs for residents, and sets a new standard for a healthier planet \u201c can all be found at\u00a0sidewalktoronto.ca<\/span><\/a>.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/span><\/p>\n

Waterfront Toronto, for its part, declined to comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

The book proposed a community that could house 100,000 people on a site of up to 1,000 acres, and contains case studies for three potential sites in the United States: Detroit, Denver, and Alameda, Calif. It also includes a map with dots detailing many other potential sites for Sidewalks first project, including a dot placed on the shores of Lake Athabasca in northern Saskatchewan.<\/span><\/p>\n

From the beginning, generating real-estate value was a key consideration for Sidewalk.<\/span><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/business\/article-sidewalk-labs-document-reveals-companys-early-plans-for-data\/<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

#BlockSidewalk<\/a><\/h2>\n

Blocksidewalk.ca<\/a><\/strong><\/h2>\n

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Google sister-company Sidewalk has a secret \u2018yellow book\u2019 with its plans to reinvent cities, plus possible sites beyond Toronto<\/h1>\n

PUBLISHED WED, JUN 27 20181:01 PM EDT \u00a0 UPDATED WED, JUN 27 20181:50 PM EDT<\/em><\/p>\n

Christina Farr\u00a0@CHRISSYFARR \u00a0\u00a0Jillian D\u2019Onfro \u00a0@JILLIANILES<\/em><\/p>\n

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Sidewalk Labs is Alphabet\u2019s project to design a technology-powered modern city.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The company\u2019s founders created a yellow coffee-table book that employees are encouraged to read for inspiration.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The book contains writings about urban planning and possible sites for testing, including Toronto (where Sidewalk is doing its first test), plus Denver, Detroit, and Alameda, California.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Employees at Alphabet\u2019s Sidewalk Labs can find inspiration in a yellow book<\/strong> created by the company\u2019s founders.<\/p>\n

The coffee table book is meant to help employees and recruits get up to speed with the company\u2019s vision to redesign a city from the ground up, according to three people who have seen copies. It includes interviews with dozens of forward-thinking academics on every aspect of urban planning, from self-driving cars to garbage delivery, according to two of those people.<\/p>\n

It also features theories and ideas for how some key problems might be solved in the future. It also has case studies of other cities that have solved urban planning problems in innovative ways, including in Singapore and Florida.<\/p>\n

One of the people described it as a \u201cvery pretty\u201d book and more of a \u201cvision plan than a business plan,\u201d making it reminiscent of the little red book that Facebook designed for all its employees.<\/p>\n

For example, according to one of the people, there is a suggestion that roads should only be open to self-driving cars<\/strong> during the day. Meanwhile, garbage pickup and deliveries should only be carried out in the very early hours of the morning so they wouldn\u2019t interfere.<\/p>\n

The back of the book lists half a dozen cities<\/strong> that could be considered ideal for testing a smart city concept. Among those cities included Toronto, where the group is already working to transform a stretch of blighted waterfront, Denver, Colorado; Detroit, Michigan; and Alameda in the San Francisco Bay Area<\/strong><\/span>, which is a residential area buttressed by acres of empty land that was previously a naval base. It\u2019s unknown whether Sidewalk is actively considering expanding its efforts beyond Toronto.<\/p>\n

These sites were specifically chosen because they meet a core set of criteria, including a vast swath of unused land and locations near lots of business and jobs — not in a remote rural area. Some of these geographies are being actively pursued as potential sites for development, the people said, while others are more of a proof of concept.<\/p>\n

Part of the book\u2019s content was used on Sidewalk\u2019s website, to publicize its plans in Toronto or add to its blog, the people said.<\/p>\n

Sidewalk Labs was founded in 2015 as an independent subsidiary within Google holding-company Alphabet, with a mandate to use technology to fix many of the problems facing cities today. It\u2019s led by CEO Dan Doctoroff, who was the deputy mayor of New York City under Michael Bloomberg from 2002 through 2008, then became the CEO of Bloomberg LP through 2014. The company\u2019s first project was a set of public Wi-Fi kiosks<\/strong> in New York City, before it launched the Toronto smart city project in October 2017.<\/p>\n

Sidewalk benefits from close ties to other Alphabet groups including the self-driving car project, Waymo<\/strong>. It has also spun out but continues to partner with , and a developer platform called Coord.<\/p>\n

Sidewalk declined to comment.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2018\/06\/25\/alphabet-sidewalk-yellow-book-secret-plans-sites.html<\/a><\/p>\n

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