Waterfront Toronto

Google to build living laboratory for urban innovation in Toronto

rasbachn — Tue, 17 Oct 2017 20:04:43 +0000

Google to build living laboratory for urban innovation in Toronto

rasbachn Tue, 10/17/2017 - 16:04

Cutline

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau meets with elementary school students who spent the day designing the neighbourhood of the future at a workshop held by U of T engineering's outreach program (photo by Roberta Baker)

Tyler Irving

Topic

City & Culture

Cities

Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science

Waterfront Toronto

Subheadline

Sidewalk Toronto will redevelop part of the city’s Port Lands into a technology-enhanced community

Waterfront Toronto is partnering with Sidewalk Labs, a sister company of Google, to design a new kind of mixed-use, complete community on Toronto’s eastern waterfront.

The project – called Sidewalk Toronto – will be located in a new neighbourhood called Quayside, located in the Port Lands. It will combine forward-thinking urban design and new digital technology to create people-centred neighbourhoods that achieve precedent-setting levels of sustainability, affordability, mobility and economic opportunity.

The announcement was made at Corus Entertainment by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Kathleen Wynne and Toronto Mayor John Tory, and featured remarks from Eric Schmidt, the executive chair of Google’s parent company Alphabet, as well as the head of Sidewalk Labs and representatives from Waterfront Toronto.

“A world leader in urban innovation, Sidewalk Labs will create a testbed for new technologies in Quayside – technologies that will help us build smarter, greener, more inclusive cities which we hope to see scaled across Toronto’s eastern waterfront and, eventually, in other parts of Canada and across the world,” Trudeau said at the event.

Trudeau added the project will “effectively transform Quayside into a thriving hub for innovation” and cited Geoffrey Hinton, a pioneer of deep learning and a University Professor Emeritus at the University of Toronto, as an example of the “innovative thinkers” Canada has to offer.

Hinton, who attended the October 17 announcement, is also an engineering fellow at Google and heads the Silicon Valley company’s artificial intelligence research project in Toronto.

Read about President Gertler's involvement with Waterfront Toronto

Dawn Britton, associate director of engineering outreach at University of Toronto, attended today’s announcement, along with 20 aspiring engineers in Grades 4 to 6 who have participated in engineering outreach programs such as Girls Jr. DEEP, a week-long course fostering experiential learning in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) disciplines. The students spent the day imagining, designing and building components of the neighbourhood of the future.

At the event, they shared their designs with the prime minister.

“When students see how technology can transform their environment and make a difference in their daily lives, they are inspired to become inventors, innovators and makers,” Britton said.

Sidewalk Toronto offers an opportunity to accelerate and enhance this research through strategic partnerships. It will also inspire a new generation of students to think innovatively about urban design and perhaps develop technologies that could make the cities of the future safer, cleaner and more livable.

“A living laboratory of this kind is a natural partner for our researchers and students as they work across disciplines to address urban and global challenges,” said Cristina Amon, dean of the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. “On behalf of our faculty, I would like to welcome Sidewalk Labs to the neighbourhood.”

U of T President Meric Gertler joins the Waterfront Toronto board

lanthierj — Fri, 20 Jan 2017 17:54:43 +0000

U of T President Meric Gertler joins the Waterfront Toronto board

lanthierj Fri, 01/20/2017 - 12:54

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Sugar Beach (photo by Still The Oldie via flickr)

Romi Levine

Author legacy

Romi Levine

Topic

Subheadline

“Our success as an institution rests very heavily on the quality of life in this region – and the waterfront is a huge part of that quality of life”

Toronto’s waterfront is experiencing a renaissance and University of Toronto President Meric Gertler wants the university to be a part of it.

He has been appointed by the Province to the board of Waterfront Toronto, a public agency created by the federal, provincial and municipal governments that aims to enhance community engagement, boost economic activity, and provide more public and inclusive spaces along Toronto’s waterfront.

“We know that a successful waterfront can become a huge asset for a city, helping to attract and retain talented people, helping to attract inward investment, both residential and commercial-industrial,” says President Gertler. “If we are able to get the waterfront right, Toronto will be that much more successful in achieving these goals.”

Waterfront Toronto

Google to build living laboratory for urban innovation in Toronto

Read more about Geoff Hinton

Read about President Gertler's involvement with Waterfront Toronto

U of T President Meric Gertler joins the Waterfront Toronto board

Read more at The Varsity