Thankful goodbye to Sidewalk Labs

In an era of rampant neoliberalism private corporations are seizing opportunities to take control of public land and institutions, if public representatives allow them to. Fortunately, in the case of Google offspring Sidewalk Labs it is the corporation that has pulled the plug and Toronto's still relatively un- commercialized lakefront path will remain as a location for lake viewing rather than high-tech (which can be done anywhere, remember). The official reason for Google's abandonment of Sidewalk Labs, its originally much hyped new world-ish waterfront project in Toronto is the COVID pandemic, now becoming a convenient rhetorical tool for many ill conceived initiatives. Google has the hubris that comes from a huge asset base and a futuristic identity but we do not live by information alone and effectively yielding control of key parts of the city to unaccountable corporate interests should remain a no-no for temptation prone public officials. 

For detailed news about the Sidewalk Labs announcement see https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/world/americas/google-toronto-sidewalk-labs-abandoned.html