每周阅读 第三周

佳琪

The future of the city is here. Sidewalk Labs, a company owned by Google's parent company, Alphabet, won a public competition to design a neighborhood by Lake Ontario. The competition was held by Waterfront Toronto, a government-created organization ，with the goal of revamping the area while  addressing issues such as urban sprawl and transportation. The initial space is a 12-acre plot, which is part of a larger 80-acre plot that Sidewalk Labs hopes to help develop in the future. Sidewalk Labs will be working with policymakers, academics, and activists on this project for which the planning phase is expected to last one year.
Dan Doctor off, CEO of Sidewalk Labs and former deputy mayor of New York City, says he envisions
this as" a place where the streets literally come alive with activity." The city of Toronto has committed $1.25
billion in funds for roadwork and other infrastructure as well as flood prevention. Sidewalk Labs has invested $50million already in the project, and Doctor off is apparently not worried about money; he stated that profit can be made from technology licensing and development. Meanwhile Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the project would bring well-paying jobs to the city by creating an "innovation hub.
Design ideas
The future neighborhood, dubbed "Quayside," is currently home to industrial buildings and parking
lots.
However, once finished it will include a variety of tech- saw and environmentally-friendly innovations.
In terms of transportation these include heated sidewalks and bike paths to melt snow, self-driving buses(Alphabet also owns  Wymo ,  which is a self-driving car company), and shared-ride taxi bots. In addition  there will be narrower streets with less cars and more room for public spaces like parks.
As for construction, the buildings will be modular units made of plastic instead of lumber and steel to
increase affordability and to make them easier to change. Underground channers will be used for  trash collection, package delivery, and for utility maintenance. Inhabitants will have user accounts with  which they will be able to access public facilities such as the gym, request utility maintenance, or even ask the
neighbors to tone down the noise.
There will also be climate-friendly energy systems, adaptive traffic lights, and continuous improvementthrough data collection and analysis. This data will come from sensors collecting information about traffic flow, noise levels, air quality, energy usage ,travel patterns, and waste output.
Criticisms and possible problems
There are, naturally ，many criticisms and concerns about the project. ACORN Canada (an organization which advocates for moderate- to low-income families) cautions that there is already a housing crisis, and making an expensive neighborhood for wealthy techies won't help with that. The tech industry has a history of worsening housing problems as in the Bay Area in California where workers from Silicon Valley have caused housing prices to skyrocket, causing a crisis. lt is essential that Quayside, as part of a city, also be geared towards the elderly, the disabled, and generally people of diverse races and income levels -not the people who typically work at tech companies.
Another worry is that it is a means for Google to collect data on people, which could leave people open to violations of privacy. In response to this concern, Doctor off has said that the data collection will only be used to improve the quality of life in Quayside ,and that privacy can be built into every aspect of the neighborhood.
Since this kind of neighborhood is new and unique, no doubt many issues will arise and new policy will have to be written to regulate this kind of hi-tech housing district.  ideally its built-in flexibility will allow it to be adaptable and overcome such issues. In any case, it will be interesting to see the evolution of this futuristic neighborhood.
每周阅读 第三周
城市的未来 Alphabet要在多伦多建一个科技社区
城市的未来就在这里。人行道实验室是谷歌母公司旗下的一家公司，它赢得了安大略湖附近一个社区的公开设计竞赛。该比赛的目的是改造这个地区，同时解决城市扩张和交通等问题。
人行道实验室首席执行官表示在他的想象里，这将是一个街道上充满活力的地方。与此同时加拿大总理特鲁多表示，该项目将创造一个“创新中心”，为这座城市带来高薪工作。
未来的社区被称作码头，目前是工业建筑和停车场的所在地，，一旦建成它将拥有各种技术和环境友好的创新。
在建筑方面，建筑将是由塑料制成的模块化单元，地下通道将用于垃圾收集、包裹运送和公用事业维护，居民将拥有用户账户，享受更好的基础服务。还将有依靠收集大数据自动调节的气候友好型能源系统。
这个项目也带来了一些批评和担忧，例如它无益于解决已经存在的住房危机，建筑的面向人群范围太过狭小。另一方面的担忧是这会变成谷歌收集人们数据的一种方式，可能会让人们的隐私受到侵犯。
由于这种社区是新的独特的，所以势必会出现许多问题，需要很多新的政策来规避。但是无论如何看到这个未来社区的发展是很有趣的。