Sidewalk Labs, a relative of Google, cancelled its Toronto “smart city” waterfront revitalization project, citing “unprecedented economic uncertainty”. This was supposed to be a futuristic, data-driven city development along Toronto’s lakeshore.
Sidewalk Labs previously caused an uproar when it proposed receiving a share of property taxes and development fees linked to the rising value of Toronto city land for financing the project.
By pulling out of the project, they are signalling that they do not have faith that Toronto’s property values will continue to increase after the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19