Urban Expedition to Toronto

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How is Toronto, a provincial capital on the way to becoming a world city, positioning itself in the competitive game of Canadian and North American cities? How can it solve the problems it is currently facing (saturated infrastructure, affordable housing shortage, etc.) so as to reinforce its economic attractiveness and establish itself, in the coming decades, as a world-class city?

Proof of the city’s attractiveness, Toronto’s waterfront area may soon become home to Quayside, an innovative, smart neighborhood designed by Alphabet subsidiary Sidewalk Labs. How does Toronto view the smart city? What does the term “smart city” mean today, and how has this definition evolved over the years? What are the specificities, strengths and weaknesses of the various smart city models, and what urban futures are they working towards? 

Public debate around the Quayside project has tended to focus on the proposed collection of data in the public space. What legal, political, social problems can arise from the widespread collection of urban data? By which governance models and arrangements can urban stakeholders ensure the democratic use of data collected in urban public spaces?