Toronto (Canada) (AFP)

Intelligent traffic lights, bicycle paths heated in the winter, waste management robots: Canadian authorities agreed in principle Thursday on a controversial futuristic neighborhood project in Toronto by a subsidiary of Google's parent company.

The Alphabet subsidiary, Sidewalk Labs, was contracted in 2017 by Waterfront Toronto - a public entity that brings the City of Toronto together with the governments of Ontario and Canada - to complete the project.

The plan calls for the redevelopment of "Quayside", a 5-hectare brownfield site along Lake Ontario, into a state-of-the-art, sustainable neighborhood built around digital technologies and data.

Waterfront Toronto's board of directors voted Thursday to continue the project after Sidewalk Labs agreed to review its master plan, which was widely criticized.

The vote paves the way for a formal evaluation of the project by Canadian authorities as well as further public consultation. A final vote is scheduled for March 31, 2020.

"Let it be clear: this is not a final agreement," Waterfront Toronto Chairman Stephen Diamond said in a statement. "There is still a lot of work to do before a final decision," he added.

Sidewalk Labs had to make a number of concessions, including the scope of the project or the management of the data that will be collected. The subsidiary is also committed to sharing the fruits of the innovations and intellectual properties that will be generated through the project with Canadian companies and Waterfront Toronto.

The New York company has welcomed this green light to his project.

"We are committed to Toronto and we hope to implement this project that will make housing more affordable, create new jobs and set new standards for a healthier planet," she said in a statement.

- "Not welcome to Toronto" -

According to the proposed plans, the future district will be built of wood, will mix shops, offices and homes (including at least 20% of social housing) and wants to be sustainable.

The company plans to deploy a number of innovations including traffic lights that adapt in real time depending on traffic, flexible public spaces, bike paths heated in winter or underground robots to distribute parcels and waste management.

The neighborhood will be equipped with sensors to collect different types of data on residents' behaviors, such as cyclist and pedestrian flows, water consumption and bin filling.

Sidewalk Labs says its goal is to help better understand the dynamics of urban life and spur innovation, but the idea has raised concerns about protecting the privacy of residents.

In the face of the outcry, Sidewalk Labs finally agreed to resubmit its master plan.

The size of the project was reduced from 77 to 5 hectares, as originally planned. And any extension beyond "Quayside" will, if the project is successful, be subject to competitive bidding, according to Waterfront Toronto.

The other main point of the discussions concerned the future management of the data. From the beginning, the public had expressed concern that an affiliate of the US giant Google could collect data from residents, seeing risks of invasion of privacy.

To reassure, Sidewalk Labs had proposed the creation of an independent body to oversee the collection and use of data, but the idea had not convinced. Waterfront Toronto will ultimately be in charge of the project's digital governance and all issues related to the privacy of residents.

Thorben Wieditz, member of the #BlockSidewalk citizen movement opposed to the project, was pleased to see the public entity regain control.

He hoped that Sidewalk Labs "will realize that it is not the right partner for the City of Toronto, that it is not welcome in Toronto."

© 2019 AFP