Alphabet aims to create dream of a super high-tech smart city in Canada

Google's holding company, Alphabet, is reportedly eyeing up plans to build itself a smart city from scratch in Toronto, Canada.

According to a Bloomberg report, sources close to the project claim the urban innovation arm of Alphabet – called Sidewalk Labs – has applied to turn a 12-acre waterfront area of downtown Toronto into the company's dream of a connected smart city.

The idea of a high-tech micro city within a city that's built "from the internet up" has been touted by the company for over a year and would see the internet giant exercise its vision of a perfect metropolis.

While plans are being kept private, it's believed the connected city could feature high-speed internet, sensor laden infrastructure-to-infrastructure communication, Internet of Things keeping citizens plugged into information and roads that are perfectly designed to accommodate its self-driving cars. It could also become the home for emerging technologies to test out their latest innovations, which will aim to help solve the problems of urban planning and living.

Sidewalk Labs, which was created in 2015, is best known for its work in bringing LinkNYC Wi-Fi enabled kiosks to New York City and has previously been linked to applying for planning a smart city district in Denver and Detroit before Toronto entered the frame. To give weight to the rumour, Bloomberg reports that Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff stated in a speech at the recent Smart Cities NYC conference that the company is exploring development of a "large-scale district" and plans were in the "feasibility" stage.

The area of downtown Toronto has been earmarked as a potential site due to the fact Canadian officials are looking to revitalise a 2000-acre waterfront plot and are looking for investment partners. Details are said to be revealed later in the year.