Key takeaways
- Four well-documented projects show the pattern: Toronto’s Quayside was cancelled, Abu Dhabi’s Masdar City scaled back its original goals, Singapore’s national digital ID is widely used, and Barcelona’s “superblocks” use street design more than technology.
- The projects that run into trouble tend to be big, new-build plans. The ones that work tend to solve a specific everyday problem for existing residents.
- Some claims in this area rest on estimates or on old data. This article says which is which.
This article is general information based on the sources listed at the end.
What “smart city” means
A smart city uses technology, such as sensors, data and digital services, to improve life for residents. Some are built from scratch on empty land. Others add technology to cities that already exist. Here are four real cases, with what each source actually says.
1. Toronto’s Quayside: cancelled
In October 2017, Sidewalk Labs (a sister company of Google) and the public agency Waterfront Toronto began planning a 12-acre waterfront community called Quayside, described as “a fundamentally more sustainable and affordable community” built on technology and urban design.
On May 7, 2020, Sidewalk Labs’ CEO Daniel Doctoroff announced it would stop. His post said that, with “unprecedented economic uncertainty” around the world and in the Toronto real estate market, it had become “too difficult to make the 12-acre project financially viable without sacrificing core parts of the plan.” The company had spent two and a half years on it and opened a 30-person office on the waterfront.
The stated reason was money and the pandemic. Some news reports and commentators have questioned whether that was the whole story, pointing to controversy over data collection and surveillance during the project. This article reports the company’s stated reason and notes that others have debated it.
2. Masdar City, Abu Dhabi: plans changed
Masdar City was announced as a $22 billion clean-energy city outside Abu Dhabi. According to an Associated Press report from October 2010, plans originally called for a self-contained “carbon-neutral” community of 40,000 residents, plus commuters, with cars banned and waste and water recycled.
After a wide-ranging review, the developer said the city would no longer try to produce all its own power on site (though it would still rely on renewable energy), and that it wouldn’t be completed until at least 2020, four years after the original deadline, with work possibly stretching to 2025. The chief executive insisted the project was “in no way being scaled down or scaled back,” saying Masdar was adapting as it learned.
Today, Masdar City describes itself as a business and technology hub and free zone in the UAE. We could not find a reliable current figure for how many people live there, so this article doesn’t give one.
3. Singapore’s Singpass: widely used
Singpass is Singapore’s national digital identity, part of the government’s Smart Nation strategy. A March 2022 government factsheet reported:
- More than 4.5 million users, covering 97% of Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents aged 15 and above.
- More than 2,000 services from 700 organisations, including government and private sector.
- More than 350 million personal and corporate transactions a year.
- Features for people without smartphones, including face verification and the option to have a text code sent to a trusted family member’s phone.
These numbers are from 2022 and have probably grown, but we have not found a more recent official figure. Singpass works because it solves everyday tasks, such as banking, housing applications and checking your retirement savings, for people already living in the city.
4. Barcelona’s superblocks: less tech, more design
Barcelona’s “superblocks” are groups of city blocks where through traffic is limited to give space back to pedestrians. The idea was to cut air pollution and add green space. A 2019 study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), published in Environment International, estimated that building all 503 planned superblocks would:
- reduce average annual nitrogen dioxide pollution by about 24% (from 47 to 36 micrograms per cubic metre), and
- prevent 667 premature deaths a year.
These are modelled estimates, not measured results, and the researchers say so. The release says redevelopment projects had been done in six districts so far, and the study did not measure what had happened on the ground. Superblocks show that a city can improve life with street design and without a single sensor.
What the four cases suggest
- Built-from-scratch projects carry big risk. Quayside never started. Masdar’s targets and timeline moved. (Our reading of these two sources, not their authors’ conclusion.)
- Digital services that fix everyday tasks tend to get used. Singpass reached almost all residents of Singapore.
- Technology isn’t always the answer. The Barcelona study’s estimated benefits come from fewer cars, not from sensors.
- Trust matters. Toronto’s debate shows that residents care who collects data and why. The company said the end of the project was about money, but the privacy discussion was part of its story.
For more on data and privacy in your own life, see our guide to phone privacy settings.
Frequently asked questions
What is a smart city? A city that uses technology like sensors, data and digital services to improve residents’ lives.
Why did Quayside get cancelled? Sidewalk Labs said economic uncertainty during the pandemic made the project too hard to make financially viable without giving up core parts of the plan. Others have debated whether there were additional reasons.
Did Masdar City reach zero carbon? Plans originally called for a carbon-neutral city but were revised in 2010 to drop the goal of producing all power on site. Check Masdar’s own current pages for its status.
Is Singapore a smart city? Singapore has a government-led “Smart Nation” programme. Its digital ID, Singpass, covered 97% of eligible residents as of 2022.
Information checked on: November 13, 2026. Projects change, so check current sources.
Sources
- Daniel L. Doctoroff, “Why we’re no longer pursuing the Quayside project, and what’s next for Sidewalk Labs” (Sidewalk Talk on Medium, May 7, 2020)
- Associated Press, “Shifting plans for $22 billion clean-energy city in Middle East” (October 10, 2010)
- Masdar City, About Masdar City (masdarcity.ae)
- Singapore Ministry of Digital Development and Information, Singpass factsheet (March 2, 2022)
- ISGlobal, “Superblocks model could prevent almost 700 premature deaths every year in Barcelona” (September 9, 2019)
