Thinking Big: Google Set Sights on Managing Entire Cities
04:33 12.06.2015(updated 14:22 12.06.2015) Get short URL
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As Google has rolled out mobile phones, and
Google glass, and self-driving cars, it's been clear they want to build more
than an online empire. Their next project takes on the very real-world problem
of livable cities.
Sidewalk Labs is the search
giant's latest venture, aimed at finding solutions for better
organizing and managing cities, and generally improving urban life.
© AP PHOTO/
TED S. WARREN, FILE
"Sidewalk will focus
on improving city life for everyone by developing and incubating
urban technologies to address issues like cost of living,
efficient transportation and energy usage," Page said in a Google+ post.
"Many cities around the
world have already made a lot of progress in some of these
areas — for instance, developing dashboards to measure and
visualize traffic patterns, and building tools that let residents instantly
evaluate and provide feedback on city services. But a lot of urban
challenges are interrelated — for example, availability
of transportation affects where people choose to live, which affects
housing prices, which affects quality of life," Page wrote.
"So it helps to start
from first principles and get a big-picture view of the many factors
that affect city life. Then, you can develop the technologies and partnerships
you need to make a difference."
Google will seed and fund the
independent company, which will be based in New York, led by Daniel
L. Doctoroff, former deputy mayor of New York City for economic
development and former chief executive of Bloomberg LP.
Another team at Google will
be led by the company's chief executive, Larry Page.
The project is focusing
on cities at a time when most of the US’ population is urban and
becoming more so.
"We are at the
beginning of a historic transformation in cities," Doctoroff
said in a statement. "At a time when the
concerns about urban equity, costs, health and the environment are
intensifying, unprecedented technological change is going to enable cities
to be more efficient, responsive, flexible and resilient."
That technology has the potential
to bring "extraordinary business opportunities and opportunities
for improving quality of life."
Some academic institutions are
already trying to take a more technological and scientific look at how
to improve urban life, but not many ventures with their roots
in the commercial world.
"It’s great to see an
ambitious private sector initiative like this recognize that cities are
important," said Steven E. Koonin, director of the NYU urban science
center. "And there are technology opportunities, but they are
complicated."
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