Writing

Sidewalk Labs: Quanto è smart?

In Toronto, a group of citizens is raising doubts about a major waterfront development plan proposed by Alphabet, whose parent company is Google.

Smart cites are conceived and promoted as being greener, cleaner and generally much more fun places to live and visit. But they are also reliant on 24/7 surveillance, and run by corporations rather than governments. My feature for Domus explores Toronto’s ambition to partner with Alphabet in launching the tech giant’s first built smart city. The plans look and sound awesome, but what is the trade off when it comes to social issues like privacy and affordability?

Published: Domus, October 2019