October 17, 2017 Since its inception, Sidewalk Labs has been conducting a thought experiment with leading urbanists and technologists about what the city of the future might look like— and scouring the globe for a place to bring it to life. In March 2017, Waterfront Toronto issued Request for Proposals No. 2017-13, a call for an innovation and funding partner for Toronto’s Eastern Waterfront. After all of our searching, we knew this was the perfect place, and the perfect partner. Our response to Waterfront Toronto’s RFP represented a snapshot in time of our ideas about how to create a place that deployed emerging technology and people-first design innovations to address the challenges that face growing cities—and how we might realize this vision on Toronto’s Eastern Waterfront. We’ve decided to release the vision we laid out in our response, both in the interest of transparency and to start what promises to be a history-making public conversation. We hope all Torontonians—and city-lovers far and wide—will join in. Which urban challenges are most urgent? Where can technology prove useful in finding solutions, and where is it not the right tool? Which of our ideas are great, which are crazy, and what did we miss? We need your ideas, your aspirations, your critiques, your concerns. We hope you’ll email us, call us, tweet at us, and, if possible, join us in person at a series of public conversations, beginning with a Community Town Hall in early November. We couldn’t be more honored to have been selected by Waterfront Toronto to do something historic on the shore of Lake Ontario. And we couldn’t be more excited than to do it together in partnership with you. — aniel L. octoroff CEO, Sidewalk Labs Project Vision A1 Quayside’s public realm will centre on above, below, and around the Gardiner nowhere else in the world. Just as bike paths and pedestrian laneways. Expressway to improve access to Silicon Valley is the centre for digital The neighbourhood will prioritize Toronto’s waterfront. And it will reflect technology and New York is the centre Vision placemaking, with an adaptable mix of the city’s exceptional diversity. for finance, the Eastern Waterfront can A1-a building uses and amenities that stay help make Toronto the global hub for VISION active at all hours of every day. But what happens in Quayside will urban innovation. This ecosystem will not stay in Quayside. The ideas first build off Toronto’s natural strengths: its i. A new type of place. Toronto is Quayside will feel like no other tested there will take on new life when diversity, strong public institutions and a city of neighbourhoods at heart, neighbourhood in Toronto—or, indeed, deployed at scale across the Eastern universities, and rising tech presence, and the Eastern Waterfront is its the world. The neigKbourhood will be Waterfront district. Modular housing bolstered by recent investments in next frontier—a great undeveloped a bustling digital and civic workshop piloted in Quayside can produce artificial intelligence. outlet that can set a new standard open to all, and its streets will be filled whole neighbourhoods of lower-cost, for downtown communities and help with exploration. When people look quicker-to-build housing, enabling the The moment is right for a vision of relieve the pressures of the city’s around Quayside, they might see a market to meet burgeoning demand. historic sweep. The world sits on remarkable growth. In Quayside, retail shop turning into artist housing A self-driving shuttle can bloom into the cusp of a revolution in urban Waterfront Toronto has the as part of a flexible building pilot. a next-generation transit system that life every bit as transformative as opportunity to create a neighbourhood Or a self-driving shuttle dropping provides point-to-point convenience the arrival of the steam engine or that lives up to the city’s planning off passengers during a test ride. Or without the safety risks and high costs electricity, powered by a new set of principles of livability, connectivity, a community group using a digital of private cars. A thermal grid pilot can digital and design breakthroughs. prosperity, and resilience. As the kiosk to provide feedback on a local become the foundation of a district- With Quayside as its launchpad, the innovation and funding partner for planning discussion. Or a new urban wide energy system that sets a global Eastern Waterfront will be a place Quayside, Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet innovation institute, home to a campus example for climate-positive living. where people and companies come subsidiary and sibling company to of entrepreneurs itching to solve the to engineer solutions to tough urban Google, will accelerate these plans toughest problems facing cities. Integrating new technology into growth challenges, and to export the for inclusive growth by merging the the urban environment is hard. The ideas sparked in Toronto far beyond the physical and digital realms, creating Welcome to Quayside, the world’s technologists who produce ambitious mouth of the Don River. a blueprint for the 21st-century urban first neighbourhood built from the solutions do not speak the same neighbourhood. internet up. language as the urbanists who must ii-iii. Partnering to achieve it. find ways to implement them. Today Sidewalk was formed to lead an Quayside will celebrate the Quayside will be a new type of place, no single city stands as a model for a urban innovation project of great waterfront’s shipping heritage, its with connectivity designed into its brighter urban future. consequence. Alphabet (then remaining industrial icons, and its very foundation. It will blend human- Google) launched Sidewalk with the origins as a public promenade. It centred urban design with cutting- In Quayside, the physical and the belief that emerging technology—if will be a truly complete community, edge digital technology, cleantech, and digital will converge into a platform for truly integrated into the physical blending work, home, and play advanced building materials. It will be urban innovation, accelerating the pace environment—can help cities address throughout the neighbourhood, a global testbed where people can use of solutions. As this platform scales seemingly intractable challenges. within every building, and even on the data about how the neighbourhood across the Eastern Waterfront, it will Sidewalk has spent the past two years water. Instead of orienting the built works to make it work better. It will catalyze an industry at the intersection studying more than 100 efforts to environment around cars and condos, serve as connective tissue—going of cities and technology that exists create urban innovation districts and A. PROJECT VISION 15 A1 Quayside’s public realm will centre on above, below, and around the Gardiner nowhere else in the world. Just as bike paths and pedestrian laneways. Expressway to improve access to Silicon Valley is the centre for digital The neighbourhood will prioritize Toronto’s waterfront. And it will reflect technology and New York is the centre Vision placemaking, with an adaptable mix of the city’s exceptional diversity. for finance, the Eastern Waterfront can A1-a building uses and amenities that stay help make Toronto the global hub for VISION active at all hours of every day. But what happens in Quayside will urban innovation. This ecosystem will not stay in Quayside. The ideas first build off Toronto’s natural strengths: its i. A new type of place. Toronto is Quayside will feel like no other tested there will take on new life when diversity, strong public institutions and a city of neighbourhoods at heart, neighbourhood in Toronto—or, indeed, deployed at scale across the Eastern universities, and rising tech presence, and the Eastern Waterfront is its the world. The neigKbourhood will be Waterfront district. Modular housing bolstered by recent investments in next frontier—a great undeveloped a bustling digital and civic workshop piloted in Quayside can produce artificial intelligence. outlet that can set a new standard open to all, and its streets will be filled whole neighbourhoods of lower-cost, for downtown communities and help with exploration. When people look quicker-to-build housing, enabling the The moment is right for a vision of relieve the pressures of the city’s around Quayside, they might see a market to meet burgeoning demand. historic sweep. The world sits on remarkable growth. In Quayside, retail shop turning into artist housing A self-driving shuttle can bloom into the cusp of a revolution in urban Waterfront Toronto has the as part of a flexible building pilot. a next-generation transit system that life every bit as transformative as opportunity to create a neighbourhood Or a self-driving shuttle dropping provides point-to-point convenience the arrival of the steam engine or that lives up to the city’s planning off passengers during a test ride. Or without the safety risks and high costs electricity, powered by a new set of principles of livability, connectivity, a community group using a digital of private cars. A thermal grid pilot can digital and design breakthroughs. prosperity, and resilience. As the kiosk to provide feedback on a local become the foundation of a district- With Quayside as its launchpad, the innovation and funding partner for planning discussion. Or a new urban wide energy system that sets a global Eastern Waterfront will be a place Quayside, Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet innovation institute, home to a campus example for climate-positive living. where people and companies come subsidiary and sibling company to of entrepreneurs itching to solve the to engineer solutions to tough urban Google, will accelerate these plans toughest problems facing cities.