For centuries, humanity has wanted to build utopian cities in which to realize their most desires. It was the case of Chandigarh, the metropolis that Le Corbusier outlined to implement a new India with which Jawaharlal Nehru put an end to British colonialism. Or that eco-architectural laboratory that the Italian Paolo Soleri and his wife Corolyn Woods built in 1970 in the middle of the Arizona desert under the name of Arcosanti.
But what happens when the creation of a city must respond to a forced need and not to a dream of identity in the middle of nowhere? The data does not deceive: the growth of cities gets out of hand. According to a UN study, in 2050 68% of the population will live in urban areas. To cope with this uncontrolled centripetal migration, the organization points out that it is essential to establish urban development on sustainable objectives, focusing on housing, transport, energy, educational and health services and employment in order to meet the needs of citizens
For Alphabet, the parent company of Google, carrying out such a feat successfully is a matter of data. The sustainable future will only be possible if we link it to the creation of intelligent metropolises, based on artificial intelligence, high connectivity and enabled by means of sensors and wiring that allow them to work by themselves. Does it sound like science fiction? In 2022 it will cease to be. Sidewalk Labs, the urban innovation firm of the technology giant, will realize its most ambitious project to date creating the city of the future of Quayside.
This idea of building a neighborhood on the road between Big Brother and the ideal cities that were planned in the Antiquity of Plato and Aristotle, arose in response to the demand of government forces in Toronto who wanted to revalue an industrial land in the process of abandonment. That gloomy anatomy that served as the setting for the film Guillermo del Toro's water form would be the perfect place to create the world's first neighborhood built from the Internet.
For this, it has a team of about 130 people and external collaborators, among dozens of advisors, such as Heatherwick Studio, creators of the Shanghai Botanical Garden macro 1,000 Trees ; the Norwegian study Snøhetta, authors of the new paper money of the country or the building of the National Opera Ballet of Norway; or the Micheal Green Architecture studio, which signs several airports in North America or the Vancouver Art Gallery, among other projects, and is one of the spearheads in the study of wood as a constructive material of the future.
Run a city without going through the polls
The union of its forces, according to Sidewalk Labs, would be able to catalyze tens of thousands of jobs and help address the main challenges and problems Toronto is currently facing. The tools to achieve this would be digital management and the development of applications such as Commonspace that would allow public space administrators to gather reliable data on the use that people make of these places, to better respond to the changing needs of the community.
The critical voices soon arrived, questioning the alliance between Google and Waterfront Toronto, the public body formed by three levels of government (municipal, provincial and federal) that oversees the project. Jathan Sadowski, a researcher in technology ethics, set off the alarm by pointing out that cities are not platforms with users or businesses with shareholders, but real places with real people. "Google wants to run cities without going through the polls," he told The Guardian .
Questions such as "would a technology company know how to run a city that is alive and in continuous motion?", "Is technology the truthful and necessary tool to improve our lives?" or "who will control and own all the data generated in full performance?" They resulted in dozens of articles recalling the role of Canada as a Western democracy that takes discussions about information privacy and data ownership seriously .
Magdalena Mak, a resident of the area, narrates the general discontent about the lack of privacy that will mean having Google "watching" his steps: "We are not very comfortable with the idea, it will be like living in a Big Brother. Residents will know what is exposed but the passers-by who walk through the park or visit someone, do not have to be guarded ... ".
On the other hand, ponders: "It is true that an area that is wasted and in very bad condition will be revitalized." Mak also points to the generation of employment and the emergence of green and modern areas as two of the great benefits. "In general, we like the concept, but it should have left a local company. It will end up becoming a hipster neighborhood for millennials ."
To promote transparency, Sidewalk launched a series of consultations - last November - to citizens, private companies and academics in order to provide more information about the project and listen to questions and suggestions.
A city where everything will be 15 minutes away
Meanwhile, details about how the first autonomous city in the world will be revealed. With an initial investment of 1.3 billion dollars (about 900 million euros), its urban development plan starts in the Quayside neighborhood , next to the Tyne River and one of the hot spots of nightlife today, with the creation of IDEA, the District of Innovative Design and Economic Acceleration. This initiative aims to harness the full potential of the coast and create 44,000 jobs by 2040.
But it is the second phase that arouses the greatest interest. The River District area, named in honor of the Don River and for the decisive role that water will play in the future of cities and also in this, aims to revolutionize the conventional design of urban centers with the maximum of 15-minute neighborhoods , neighborhoods where residents can access all their needs without spending more than 15 minutes on their journey.
Composed of five neighborhoods linked to the center by a light rail, Villiers West will be chosen to host the new Google headquarters in Canada, which will include a nonprofit research institute designed to connect industry and entrepreneurs with public bodies .
Integrating autonomous vehicles is one of the key points of its mobility plan. Its purpose is to shorten the trip to the workplace, making it more comfortable and without the need for a car of your own. To promote the use of the bike and that residents go on foot, they will design the streets under the concept of people-first (people first), with wider sidewalks, without curves and dynamic curbs that can be transformed into public spaces during the peaks of less traffic.
Why don't we create our microclimate?
With the incorporation of intelligent, well-lit and heated pavements, not only will ice and snow be avoided, but it will become possible - in a place like Toronto with cold and windy weather in winter, with highs of zero degrees in February - One of the maxims of the project: live the city outdoors.
Designing green areas and open spaces will not be the only measure to encourage Quayside residents to take to the streets. The project goes to more. With the slogan Winter is coming, but good design can help (winter is coming, but good design can help ), the RWDI engineering group is responsible for increasing the annual amount of daytime hours that neighbors can really enjoy from Quayside, which, with its passive and active climate control systems, could go from 30% to 74% of daylight hours.
This will not result in an endless summer, but in greater comfort thanks to the use of solar radiation. On the one hand, "by studying the weather patterns at a very local level, the grid of a neighborhood and the masses of buildings can be adapted to protect the streets from the wind or give way to sunlight," they point out from Sidewalk to ICON Design .
On the other hand, the Raincoat (waterproof) system, digitally controlled, will be the tool that allows to promote cool breezes or increase the number of daylight hours per year, as well as stop the cold winter wind. It is a membrane, more or less transparent, that can be opened and closed, and that hangs from the facade of the buildings, covering the sidewalks.
Affordable houses and wood as resistant as concrete
In the housing section, Sidewalks is clear: you have to build fast, sustainable and at a reasonable price for everyone. The BIM software tool will coordinate the entire supply chain until its execution, with a code based on the results obtained by the environmental sensors. Mass wood - as strong and resistant as steel or concrete, but reusable - or Shikkui plaster - made with seaweed and eggshells - contributes to counteracting the greenhouse effect, as well as reducing application times.
The transversality applied to the construction of buildings is one of the great challenges that the project assumes: the creation of intelligent and flexible spaces that adapt to our needs in an agile way. Raphael Gielgen, head of research and trend research at Vitra, describes it as one of the keys to creating smart spaces: "There are two fundamental aspects that we have learned in architecture from our experience. First, that the construction of a city must be seen as a sculptural object that is part of a landscape. We walk through its structure to enjoy and understand both its external appearance and its global form, as well as the play of light and shadow that surrounds its volume. "
The second, he says, "has a more experimental side and is based on the direct experience we have with the building over time. If we move from one place to another, it will also change with us." The loft house proposed by Sidewalk Labs seeks to assume this modular function with a flexible wall system that can be easily moved and replaced, reducing the cost of future renovations. Thus, buildings could acquire different uses throughout their life cycles.
Digital tools are also the basis of your sustainable plan. Designing energy-efficient buildings that include Wi-Fi in the front could optimize construction systems and manage energy use to make it cleaner without relying on fossil fuels. Other tasks of its digital management will be to improve home recycling or water protection throughout the coast. To see if expectations are met, we will have to wait until 2022, when the first residents are installed and the city of the future is put into operation.