ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

Home → Science

Google seems to want to build a city ‘from the internet up’

There are Google self-driving cars, Google-made phones and notebooks, and soon there might also a be a Google city.

Tibi PuiubyTibi Puiu
May 5, 2016
in News, Science, Technology
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

Google has long ceased to be just a search engine. Its operations span media, energy, automobiles and virtually all facets of cutting tech that matters, both software and hardware. In fact, last year Google had to re-organize itself into a new umbrella corporation called Alphabet. There are Google self-driving cars, Google-made phones and notebooks, and soon there might also a be a Google city.

smart city
Credit: rethink-iot.com

Part of Alphabet, one of the largest publically traded company in the world, is a little company few have heard about called Sidewalk Labs. The smart-cities research unit was quietly formed last year with the intended goal of tackling the world’s biggest urban problems, from traffic congestion, to housing, to energy.

Heading the Sidewalk Labs is former deputy mayor for economic development in New York, Dan Doctoroff.

“The people who do planning in cities don’t really understand technology, and technologists actually really don’t understand cities,” Doctoroff said.

Sidewalk is the bridge between the two, and one day its products could change the way we live in cities since these will start interacting with us. Smart grids would serve energy where it’s needed most from where it’s needed less — energy that’s renewably generated. A smart city is basically a city where  information technology is the principal infrastructure because it governs everything from roads, to sewers, to sanitation.

So far, there is only one project that we know of that’s come off Sidewalk. Called LinkNYC, it’s a $200 million network of as many as 7,500 Wi-Fi kiosks in New York,  known as Links. Instead of the archaic coin-operated pay phones, each link will offer free super-fast internet with a radius of as much as 400 feet, access to free phone calls within the U.S. and USB charging stations. It’s essentially a blend of communications and media, that’s designed to become functional over the next eight years. Expect some advertising, because this is Google, err Alphabet’s, main business.

 

A Link kiosk in NYC. Credit: Recode
A Link kiosk in NYC. Credit: Recode

LinkNYC sounds ambitious, but it’s only one project. What else is cooking? Speaking at a conference hosted by The Information, Doctoroff hinted that in the grand scheme of things, Sidewalk Labs, and hence Alphabet, wants to build its own city from the internet up. Paleofuture caught this:

RelatedPosts

Leaking natural gas may be a significant contributor to global warming
Digital atlas shows oceans’ iron levels
Gray hair reversal process discovered by scientists
These are some of the most awesome wildlife photos of 2020

Building a city from scratch could help the company rethink government, social policy and data-driven management. “Thinking about [a city] from the Internet up is really compelling,” said Mr. Doctoroff, a former CEO of Bloomberg LP and a former deputy mayor of New York City. Existing “cities are hard. You have people with vested interest, politics, physical space…But the technology ultimately cannot be stopped.”

Later he added that building a new city could help test solutions to cybersecurity and privacy issues: “If you could create a place, it’d be a laboratory to experiment with these problems.”

Most of the cities in the United States are inadequate for 21st century needs. The infrastructure was simply not designed to house tens of millions of people, and many more vehicles, nor do they efficiently harness energy and dispose of waste. With technology, you can significantly upgrade a city and its residents’ quality of life. In the long run, if you want to do something truly amazing, you have to start from scratch.

smart city features
Source: smartcities.gov.in

In developing countries, this sort of approach is already being implemented. For instance, there’s MSC Malaysia — a “Special Economic Zone” meant to act as a new multimedia and technology utopia in Asia — or the King Abdulah Economic City in Saudi Arabia, a $86 billion dollar planned city. Then, in the U.S., there’s Mcity  which is a fake city belonging to the U.S. government where self-driving cars are being test. Elsewhere, CITE ( Center for Innovation, Testing, and Evaluation) is a self-contained city that’s been built in the New Mexico desert.

There’s something inherently creepy about a whole city built or at least planned by a company like Google which likes to collect everything about your life’s preferences. I’m sure a lot of people would like to live in it, including me, but if you thought the internet of things was limited to routers and coffee mugs, think again. It’s going to be everything and everywhere. A world driven by information, and there’s at least one company that wants to monitor (and perhaps control) this flow.

ShareTweetShare
Tibi Puiu

Tibi Puiu

Tibi is a science journalist and co-founder of ZME Science. He writes mainly about emerging tech, physics, climate, and space. In his spare time, Tibi likes to make weird music on his computer and groom felines. He has a B.Sc in mechanical engineering and an M.Sc in renewable energy systems.

Related Posts

Science

A Team of Researchers Brought the World’s First Chatbot Back to Life After 60 Years

byMihai Andrei
5 hours ago
default
Inventions

From Farms to Lost Cities, Drones Are Quietly Revolutionizing Modern Science

byMihai Andrei
5 hours ago
Health

Professional Bodybuilders Are Five Times More Likely to Die Suddenly Than Amateurs. Yes, it’s Because of the Drugs

byTibi Puiu
6 hours ago
Diseases

Common Cold Sore Virus May Mess With Your Brain Decades Later (and Cause Alzheimer’s)

byMihai Andrei
7 hours ago

Recent news

A Team of Researchers Brought the World’s First Chatbot Back to Life After 60 Years

May 22, 2025
default

From Farms to Lost Cities, Drones Are Quietly Revolutionizing Modern Science

May 22, 2025

Professional Bodybuilders Are Five Times More Likely to Die Suddenly Than Amateurs. Yes, it’s Because of the Drugs

May 22, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Editorial Policy
  • Privacy Policy and Terms of Use
  • How we review products
  • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Science News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Space
  • Future
  • Features
    • Natural Sciences
    • Physics
      • Matter and Energy
      • Quantum Mechanics
      • Thermodynamics
    • Chemistry
      • Periodic Table
      • Applied Chemistry
      • Materials
      • Physical Chemistry
    • Biology
      • Anatomy
      • Biochemistry
      • Ecology
      • Genetics
      • Microbiology
      • Plants and Fungi
    • Geology and Paleontology
      • Planet Earth
      • Earth Dynamics
      • Rocks and Minerals
      • Volcanoes
      • Dinosaurs
      • Fossils
    • Animals
      • Mammals
      • Birds
      • Fish
      • Amphibians
      • Reptiles
      • Invertebrates
      • Pets
      • Conservation
      • Animal facts
    • Climate and Weather
      • Climate change
      • Weather and atmosphere
    • Health
      • Drugs
      • Diseases and Conditions
      • Human Body
      • Mind and Brain
      • Food and Nutrition
      • Wellness
    • History and Humanities
      • Anthropology
      • Archaeology
      • History
      • Economics
      • People
      • Sociology
    • Space & Astronomy
      • The Solar System
      • Sun
      • The Moon
      • Planets
      • Asteroids, meteors & comets
      • Astronomy
      • Astrophysics
      • Cosmology
      • Exoplanets & Alien Life
      • Spaceflight and Exploration
    • Technology
      • Computer Science & IT
      • Engineering
      • Inventions
      • Sustainability
      • Renewable Energy
      • Green Living
    • Culture
    • Resources
  • Videos
  • Reviews
  • About Us
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Editorial policy
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2025 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.