800 acres of waterfront in Toronto being developed by Sidewalk Labs (subsidiary of Alphabet) as an internet smart city. Over $1 billion in funding. Accelerating urban innovation.

Sidewalk Toronto is a joint effort by Waterfront Toronto and Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs to create a new kind of mixed-use, complete community on Toronto’s Eastern Waterfront, beginning with the creation of Quayside. Sidewalk Toronto will combine forward-thinking urban design and new digital technology to create people-centred neighbourhoods that achieve precedent-setting levels of sustainability, affordability, mobility, and economic opportunity.

Yes, this is a pretty damn big deal…

A short video…

Smart cities and the future of cities are both topics that fascinate me because, at their core, cities are about bringing people together. I’ll tell you what — watching Sidewalk Toronto become a reality is going to be fascinating.

PS: On the topic of smart cities & real estate development / urban planning, it’s worth noting there is a major 50 acre development project underway in Tampa as well ($3B in private funding). Read here for more details.