2) Accessways 3. Activities Sidewalk Labs’s “accessways” were designed for cyclists, with traffic moving at bike speeds. Consequently, these streets 3.1 Green spaces would have been narrower and constituted a core part of the pedestrian-cyclist network. They would have had a speed limit Approximately 27 percent of Toronto’s space is occupied by the of twenty-two kilometers an hour and a maximum width of city’s 5,617 kilometers of streets, whereas only 13 percent of it sixteen meters (Sidewalk Labs, 2017b: 102-103). comprises parks and green areas. As in most North American cities, streets were planned a way tat ges p ae vecles Self-driving vehicles would have only been permitted if priority, with pedestrians consequently having to accept narrow they traveled at bike speeds. Accessways would not have sidewalks and rigid crosswalks. had separated sidewalks. Instead, cyclists and pedestrians would have been guided via lighted pavement or digital signs The challenge of preserving and expanding public space is (Sidewalk Labs, 2017b: 92). familiar to large cities around the world. To rise to it, Sidewalk Labs proposed a new approach to street design (see Section 2 3) Transitways of this chapter) that could have helped to maximize public space This type of thoroughfare aimed to prioritize public transit over in dense neighborhoods and turn city streets into attractive, all other modes, emphasizing light rail or trams and linking people-centered environments that could be truly integrated some neighborhoods to the city’s wider transit network. They with parks, plazas, and the lakeshore. For example, Sidewalk would have primarily served as connectors to other parts of the intended its boulevards in the IDEA District to offer up to 91 town and to boulevards (Sidewalk Labs, 2017b: 98-101). percent more space devoted to people (cyclists and pedestrians) and offer room for nearly twice as many trees as the existing The “transitways” would also have provided space forurban infrastructure model allowed. pedestrians, cyclists, deliveries, and self-driving cars or shuttles. Adaptive traffic signals would have prioritized 3.1.1 Thinking of streets as parks pedestrians at crossings that were shorter due to the narrower Sidewalk Labs’s street plans included a plan to green a significant road width and the wider sidewalks. Lastly, transitways would boulevard, Queens Quay West, in a way that, over time, could have provided cyclists with protected bike lanes, and they would have allowed the boulevard to become a 5,486 square-meter have been accessible to other low-speed vehicles. linear park in Toronto. The firm envisaged including tables and seats set beneath groves of trees along the boulevard (Sidewalk 4) Laneways proposal, 2017: 135). A mix of grounded small trees and canopy Sidewalk Labs’s “laneways” were designed for walking. They would species would have been clustered together to create a feeling of have been a key part of the pedestrian network and the most a park-like street and foster conditions that supported increased common type of street. They were designed to have a top speed of biodiversity and improved the growth of urban forest. eight kilometers per hour and a maximum width of eleven meters. Bikes and low-speed vehicles could have been tolerated if they Sidewalk also wanted there to be approximately fifty-nine trees traveled at an appropriate speed (Sidewalk Labs, 2017b: 104-105). per hectare in the IDEA District, which represents a twenty percent increase on the concentration of forty-nine trees per Laneways were designed to help people get to places and hectare found on Toronto’s streets today. These measures stores, and they would have been filled with pop-up shops, might have generated positive externalities for the environment, street fairs, exhibitions, and other types of community-based because a green landscape absorbs and sequesters carbon activities. Heated pavement would have created a welcoming particles, helps to mitigate urban heat, and considerably pedestrian atmosphere all year round, and moveable street reduces the risk of flooding. furniture would have encouraged a vibrant and ever-changing streetscape. A subset of laneways—pedestrian-only pedways— 3.1.2 New parks, plazas, and open spaces would not have been accessible to any vehicle traffic at all, Sidewalk Labs expressed the view that reclaiming streets for adding yet another dimension to the walking network (Sidewalk people is critical in creating more spaces for the public and Labs, 2017b: 62-63, and 106). increasing the expanse of green spaces. The city’s own parkland strategy includes a tool for mapping priority areas for new parks and green areas, and a twenty-year facilities master plan outlines a sound, future-looking strategy to increase recreation 177 Quélin and Smadja | HEC PARIS | SMART CITIES | The sustainable program of six leading cities | 2021