tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/private-public-partnerships-49102/articlesPrivate public partnerships – The Conversation2021-08-03T15:23:35Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1648772021-08-03T15:23:35Z2021-08-03T15:23:35ZHow the private sector can support South Africa’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/414138/original/file-20210802-22-zjtdt0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">If South Africa continues vaccinating at current rates, it would take over two years to reach the targeted coverage of 67% of the population.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Darren Stewart/Gallo Images via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently announced the scaling up of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout. At the beginning of September 2021, the entire adult population – people over 18 – will be eligible to get vaccinated. Around <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022021.pdf">40 million adults fall into this category</a>. This is an ambitious target and will take a concerted effort to achieve. </p>
<p>Indeed, in his <a href="https://sacoronavirus.co.za/2021/07/25/statement-by-president-cyril-ramaphosa-on-progress-in-the-national-effort-to-contain-the-covid-19-pandemic-25-july-2021/">address</a> on 25 July, Ramaphosa reaffirmed the government’s commitment to working with the private sector on achieving the target. </p>
<p>South Africa has a two-tier health system. The public sector is wholly funded by the government and serves the <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0318/P03182018.pdf#page=37">majority</a> of the population. The private sector is partly funded by the state and by patients. Around <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0318/P03182018.pdf#page=37">27%</a> of South Africans have access to private healthcare. But because official vaccine statistics are not split by sector, there is no way of accurately comparing the rollout efficiency of the public and private sectors. </p>
<p>What we do know is that the government is the <a href="https://www.nicd.ac.za/covid-19-vaccine-rollout-strategy-faq/">sole purchaser of vaccines</a>. It procures, distributes and oversees the rollout of the vaccine at vaccination centres, work-based programmes and outreach-based programmes.</p>
<p>Part of this function includes distribution to the private sector, which started rolling out vaccines shortly after the public sector on <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2021-05-14-covid-19-vaccine-rollout-will-begin-at-private-sector-sites-on-may-24/">24 May 2021</a>. </p>
<p>There’s been a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/the-number-of-people-vaccinated-against-covid-19-in-south-africa-rollout-2021-7">recent uptick in the vaccinations</a>. But one <a href="http://mediahack.co.za/datastories/coronavirus/vaccination-calculator/">estimate</a> shows that South Africa is averaging just under 46,000 vaccines a day. If the country continues vaccinating at this rate, it would take over two years to reach the targeted vaccine coverage of 67% of the population. The country cannot afford to wait this long and therefore the need to accelerate the rollout remains urgent. All hands should be on deck.</p>
<p>A swift and consistent vaccine rollout is critical to prevent <a href="https://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-020-01361-7">entrenchment of pre-existing health inequalities</a>.</p>
<p>The private sector’s <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/business/502373/a-message-to-ramaphosa-from-south-africas-biggest-private-employer/">willingness to quickly pick up the slack and additional costs</a> of the rollout is most likely driven by profit. But increasing coverage and accelerating the vaccine rollout would benefit society at large too.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/healthcare-in-south-africa-how-inequity-is-contributing-to-inefficiency-163753">Healthcare in South Africa: how inequity is contributing to inefficiency</a>
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<h2>Expanding private sites</h2>
<p>More than 70% <a href="https://sacoronavirus.co.za/active-vaccination-sites/">(1,026 sites)</a> of the currently available vaccination sites are in the public sector. But the number of private sector sites <a href="https://sacoronavirus.co.za/active-vaccination-sites/">(324)</a> is growing steadily. The three main private sector players are the medical aid scheme <a href="https://www.discovery.co.za/corporate/vaccination-sites">Discovery</a>, and pharmacy chain groups <a href="https://clicks.co.za/covidvaccine">Clicks</a> and <a href="https://www.dischem.co.za/covid-19-vaccination">Dischem</a>. Members of the public can go to any site – public or private – without having to pay.</p>
<p>If the private sector can offer vaccinations more efficiently, then serious consideration should be given to expanding private sites at a faster rate. The counterargument to this is that private sites are not geared towards mass rollouts, unlike the public sector. This may result in bottlenecks at private sites during early phases of rollout, and <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=vaccine%20queue%20clicks&src=typed_query&f=live">anecdotes suggest this has been the case</a>. Similar to the public sector, most vaccine sites in the private sector are also only open five days a week at the moment. </p>
<p>Given its supply chain infrastructure and networks, the private sector can take on a bigger coordinating role in the distribution of vaccines. An existing public-private partnership that works well is the <a href="https://getcheckedgocollect.org.za/ccmdd/">centralised chronic medicines dispensing and distribution</a> – also known as Dablap. State patients registered with the programme can collect their state-issued chronic medication from their most convenient pick-up point, be it in the community, public or private sector. A similar solution could be designed for the vaccine rollout. </p>
<p>Other <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/business-opinion/502579/medical-aid-boss-appeals-to-ramaphosa-let-the-private-sector-vaccinate-south-africa/">interesting solutions</a> have been suggested, such as vaccinating without registration on the government system. Another is procurement strategies that reduce the risk of using a dominant vaccine producer.</p>
<h2>Putting people first</h2>
<p>However, any plan that does not place the needs of people first, whether it involves the public or private sector or both, is bound to fail. This fact underscores the importance of partnering with communities in any vaccine rollout.</p>
<p>An example of a community-oriented innovation can be found in <a href="http://www.statssa.gov.za/?p=12075">Limpopo, the poorest province in the country</a>, which seems to be at the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.co.za/limpopo-province-the-first-to-reach-herd-immunity-in-south-africa-2021-6">forefront of reaching population immunity</a>. Much of its rapid progress has been attributed to including local churches and traditional leaders in the rollout plan. Communities seemed to trust local leaders and faith-based organisations more than healthcare professionals and politicians. Limpopo carried out large-scale door-to-door registration and vaccination in the most inaccessible, rural parts of the province with poor internet connectivity. As a result it overtook other provinces with rollout numbers. </p>
<p>In South Africa, it is the poorest and most vulnerable who struggle to access care and therefore have the worst health outcomes. The impact of a (possibly) two-year-long vaccine rollout – whether due to <a href="https://businesstech.co.za/news/business-opinion/502579/medical-aid-boss-appeals-to-ramaphosa-let-the-private-sector-vaccinate-south-africa/">supply side exclusion</a>, <a href="https://cramsurvey.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/2.-Burger-R.-Maughan-Brown-M.-Kohler-T.-English-R.-_-Tameris-M.-2021-Increased-openness-to-accepting-a-COVID-19-vaccine-is-a-shot-in-the-arm-for-South-Africa-Evidence-from-the-NIDS-CRAM-Wave-5-Survey.pdf">demand side hesitancy</a> and <a href="https://sacoronavirus.co.za/2021/07/13/media-release-impact-of-violent-protests-on-health-services/">unrest</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-vaccine-quagmire-and-what-needs-to-be-done-now-163784">poor planning by government</a>, or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666535221000215?v=s5">global vaccine power dynamics</a> – is likely to hit vulnerable subgroups the hardest.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/164877/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Carmen S. Christian has worked on research projects funded by the NRF and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.</span></em></p>Any vaccine rollout plan that does not place the needs of people first, whether it involves the public or private sector or both, is bound to fail.Carmen S. Christian, Senior Lecturer, Department of Economics, University of the Western CapeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/917582018-02-19T08:40:24Z2018-02-19T08:40:24ZPeople in African cities are taking charge of their water supplies - and it’s working<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206152/original/file-20180213-44639-1pfzfqs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman carries a water canister in a village near Loiyangalani, Kenya.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Goran Tomasevic</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The world has made tremendous progress in bridging the gap between water supply and demand. But there’s a long way still to go. In a 2017 <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/258617/1/9789241512893-eng.pdf">joint monitoring report</a> UNICEF and the World Health Organisation noted that more than 844 million people – many of them in sub-Saharan Africa – still don’t have access to improved and safely managed drinking water sources.</p>
<p>This is particularly true in the region’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717315759">urban areas</a>, and especially its <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/07900627.2017.1322941">informal settlements</a>. Population growth and rapid urbanisation <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969717315759">are outstripping</a> the already inadequate infrastructure in these spaces.</p>
<p>The traditional model of water governance through state or public water utilities, and the market based privatisation of water supplies that gained momentum in the early twentieth century, have failed to effectively address growing urban water demand. And so other institutional and management systems have emerged in some urban and peri-urban areas. </p>
<p>These new and alternative institutional configurations include public–private partnerships, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718515001888">community public partnerships</a>, management by <a href="http://wp.iwaponline.com/content/15/5/777">local autonomous</a> urban water utilities and <a href="http://apps.webofknowledge.com/InboundService.do?product=WOS&Func=Frame&DestFail=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.webofknowledge.com%3FDestApp%3DCEL%26DestParams%3D%253Faction%253Dretrieve%2526mode%253DFullRecord%2526product%253DCEL%2526UT%253DWOS%253A000249440200006%2526customersID%253Datyponcel%26e%3DnX1E69S7AT9PUl0TEL.F4.zqOr5NvqAUxKtS15KYE_c2Nj_9PLA771.5C8esw4IA%26SrcApp%3Dliteratum%26SrcAuth%3Datyponcel&SrcApp=literatum&SrcAuth=atyponcel&SID=D5gg6VgwjmrQMFut3uL&mode=FullRecord&customersID=atyponcel&smartRedirect=yes&IsProductCode=Yes&Init=Yes&action=retrieve&UT=WOS%3A000249440200006">community self-help systems</a>. </p>
<p>My colleagues and I explored several of the new systems in <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07900627.2017.1423282">recently published research</a>.</p>
<p>Community based water supply models have been common in rural areas for some time. They are now appearing in urban contexts for several reasons. These include communities’ desire to address everyday water challenges when public utilities fail to deliver.</p>
<p>A good example is the case of <a href="https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/127-Unsettled%20-%20Water%20Sanitation%20in%20Urban%20Settlements%20in%20the%20Pacific.pdf">Maputo, Mozambique</a>. The government’s decision to halt direct water delivery to peri-urban settlements led to the formation of public community partnerships. <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/58d4504db8a79b27eb388c91/t/58e6b1d5be65946a94ba3a7d/1491513822930/usl_150623_urban_solutions_report_web.pdf#page=11">In Kenya</a>, the rise of public community partnerships through delegated management was inspired by changes in government policy.</p>
<p>Community public partnerships typically involve a community – or an elected body within that community – working with a public or state owned water utility. So far they’ve emerged in only a handful of countries in sub-Saharan Africa, notably Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania and Zambia. There are also successful examples of community-state partnerships in Latin America. These are mainly in <a href="http://pubdocs.worldbank.org/en/632641485539895479/WDR17-BP-Water-governance-and-the-Commons-in-Bolivia.pdf">Bolivia</a>, Mexico, and Chile. </p>
<p>These existing initiatives offer useful lessons on what can be achieved when communities work jointly with the state in water service delivery. </p>
<h2>Lessons from Malawi</h2>
<p>Water boards <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718515001888">in Malawi</a> started working with community-elected water user associations in informal settlements in the mid-2000s. This began after a long history of mismanagement by private water operators. The water boards struggled with everything from financial management to extending water connections. Water points were frequently vandalised. The utility routinely ignored complaints from the community.</p>
<p>There have been <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016718515001888">significant gains</a> since the community public partnerships were established. Technical and financial management have improved. Systems have been put in place that allow residents to gradually pay off their outstanding debts rather than just cutting off their supply. Money in the bank means there are more functional communal water kiosks. Broken pipes and other technical faults are handled more efficiently.</p>
<p>Perhaps most crucially, water pricing has stabilised in the communities in Lilongwe and Blantyre that have adopted this model. People are no longer overcharged for this basic service.</p>
<p>The model has its problems, of course. Supply disruptions and low water pressure are common. Questions have been raised about the extent to which improvements in management, accountability, and the number of water points has led to better water access at the household level. More empirical work will be needed to quantify the relationship between these partnerships and household water access. </p>
<h2>Helping themselves</h2>
<p>Self-help initiatives are historically more common in rural areas. But they are gradually emerging in some of sub-Saharan Africa’s urban spaces. These arrangements, also known as community-based self-provision, allow communities to form their own institutions for water delivery without formal connections or partnerships with utility operators or municipal governments. </p>
<p>Such initiatives tend to be smaller in scope than formal utility–community partnerships. They often operate in small towns, with examples to be found in Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. Self-help arrangements may involve either an entire community or a subset, such as an elected committee. Communities show commitment by providing resources such as land, labour, or money. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ambe_Njoh/publication/237637659_Self-Help_a_Viable_Non-Conventional_Urban_Public_Service_Delivery_Strategy_Lessons_from_Cameroon/links/550845030cf27e990e09c02c.pdf">Kumbo and Mutengene in Cameroon</a> is a self-help initiative that’s enabled communities to significantly mobilise financial and other resources. It has created a platform for communities to set up their own partnerships with development agencies. This is important: such initiatives must be able to attract international donors’ interest by first mobilising community members and resources if they’re to thrive.</p>
<p>In Dar es Salaam, for instance, communities far from the city’s main water <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jid.1601/full">infrastructure</a> network came together to dig wells and boreholes. They purchased water pumps, constructed storage tanks to meet their own water needs, and used revenue from water sales to expand the small-scale water system. Successful communities were able to get both local and international donors on board to provide them financial support. </p>
<p>Community self-help initiatives are not without their flaws. Their viability depends on the extent of community participation, continued interest and engagement with NGOs and other stakeholders; and sufficient financial support from within or outside the community. This prompts questions about their future sustainability and potential to scale up. </p>
<p>Another key challenge is the difficulty of balancing the provision of public standpipes with the demand for household taps </p>
<h2>Support is crucial</h2>
<p>Our study and review of existing research shows that no single policy or institutional approach to urban water supply is perfect. Nor is there one approach without any merit. </p>
<p>What is clear is that emerging alternative arrangements that involve communities are critical for improving water access. This is especially true in low-income urban areas. But communities cannot do it all alone. They need institutional support and to operate within a strong, coherent policy landscape.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91758/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ellis Adjei Adams receives funding from The National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>New ways of managing water have emerged in some of Africa’s urban and peri-urban areas.Ellis Adjei Adams, Assistant Professor of Global Studies and Geosciences, Georgia State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/906112018-01-30T22:13:53Z2018-01-30T22:13:53ZThe controversy over Google’s futuristic plans for Toronto<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203344/original/file-20180124-107950-1sdpxhc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sidewalk Labs CEO Dan Doctoroff shake hands at an announcement in Toronto in October 2017. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sidewalk Labs, a Google company aiming to branch out into city planning, has come up with a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/29/world/canada/google-toronto-city-future.html">futuristic vision</a> for a chunk of the lakefront in Canada’s biggest city.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.sidewalklabs.com/">The plan for Quayside, a data-oriented high-tech neighbourhood</a> in the city’s east end, has attracted a lot of attention because it seems to be <a href="http://spacing.ca/toronto/2017/10/23/alphabet-city/">“a built-form version of Facebook,”</a> in the words of urban affairs expert John Lorinc.</p>
<p>But the proposed project’s risks go far beyond Google’s data collection and data use. </p>
<p>As an expert on the governance of urban development, with particular expertise in the growing use of <a href="https://theconversation.com/financiers-are-now-controlling-public-works-much-to-the-publics-confusion-81075">public-private partnerships</a>, I fear that the raging debate between “smart city” advocates and critics of big data may prevent Canadians from appreciating that the Google plan may involve software, but it’s a city plan, not an app.</p>
<p>As such, it represents a radical departure from the principles that have guided city planning in Canada since citizen participation and accountability came to the fore in the era of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/may/04/jane-jacobs-100th-birthday-saskia-sassen">Jane Jacobs, a renowned Canadian-American urban planner.</a></p>
<p>Turning large areas over to private corporations so that they can not only build but even plan and control neighbourhoods or towns has happened in many Asian cities: Manila, Singapore and Hanoi have all witnessed the emergence of exclusive <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/23540006_The_City_and_the_Bottom_Line_Urban_Megaprojects_and_the_Privatization_of_Planning_in_Southeast_Asia">“Urban Integrated Megaprojects.”</a> They may not have data sensors everywhere, but they otherwise resemble the Sidewalk Labs’ plan for Toronto. </p>
<h2>Canary Wharf a corporate mega-project</h2>
<p>Privatized planning also exists in democratic Western countries. In the Margaret Thatcher era, London saw the creation of several <a href="http://www.metropolitiques.eu/Regeneration-and-the-Legacy-of.html?lang=fr">“Urban Development Corporations”</a> designed specifically to go over the heads of local city councils, which were often dominated by Labour politicians opposed to such entities. </p>
<p>Developers entered into secretive deals with these obscure special-purpose authorities, sidelining local accountability processes to create exclusive commercial and residential districts, <a href="http://www.eastlondonhistory.co.uk/london-docklands-canary-wharf/">including Canary Wharf.</a></p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203882/original/file-20180129-89597-1nu8d73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203882/original/file-20180129-89597-1nu8d73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203882/original/file-20180129-89597-1nu8d73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203882/original/file-20180129-89597-1nu8d73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=377&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203882/original/file-20180129-89597-1nu8d73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203882/original/file-20180129-89597-1nu8d73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203882/original/file-20180129-89597-1nu8d73.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=474&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Commuters pass by an ice sculpture of the Canary Wharf Tower at Canary Wharf in January 2013.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)</span></span>
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<p>Local democracy has certainly had its ups and downs in Canada. </p>
<p>But unlike the situation in the U.K., the federal government has no jurisdiction over city matters and so corporate involvement in urban planning has been more limited. </p>
<p>For example, next door to the proposed Google mini-city in Toronto, developer <a href="http://firstgulf.com/portfolio/east-harbour/">First Gulf is proposing to create</a> a large office development in an area of the city that’s been dubbed East Harbour. The city of Toronto is allowing the developer to draw up a master plan covering not only the land it already owns, but also some adjacent areas.</p>
<p>This is somewhat worrisome because urban planning is first and foremost a key public function. </p>
<h2>Working with the city</h2>
<p>But as I saw at a recent community consultation meeting, First Gulf is working closely with Toronto urban planners and officials from the city’s parks department and public transit agencies. </p>
<p>In some cases they are even proposing details that exceed legal standards, and so the public interest seems to be front and centre. Of course, the profit motive has not disappeared. Local residents will need to stay vigilant.</p>
<p>Nonetheless, First Gulf is demonstrating that collaboration between private corporations and public bodies can serve the public interest. </p>
<p>A major difference between the East Harbour plan and the proposed Google project is that the Google folks have not approached the city in the usual, highly regulated manner, but have been negotiating, in secret, with the arms-length <a href="http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/nbe/portal/waterfront/Home">Waterfront Toronto.</a> </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203880/original/file-20180129-89564-1po8dc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/203880/original/file-20180129-89564-1po8dc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203880/original/file-20180129-89564-1po8dc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203880/original/file-20180129-89564-1po8dc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=310&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203880/original/file-20180129-89564-1po8dc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203880/original/file-20180129-89564-1po8dc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/203880/original/file-20180129-89564-1po8dc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=390&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">A sketch of Sidewalk Labs’ plan for housing in its proposed Quayside development in east-end Toronto.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Sidewalk Labs)</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Waterfront Toronto, a tri-government agency set up in 2000 to develop Toronto’s post-industrial waterfront, has facilitated many good projects. But like other agencies and commissions that have been spun off by governments, it lacks transparency. </p>
<p>Such agencies may very well do good work, but they operate much like private corporations. Their political masters sometimes hold them to account, but citizens have no idea who’s in charge or why they make the decisions they make.</p>
<h2>Closed meetings</h2>
<p>In contrast, city staff operate under the glaring light of compulsory transparency. The Waterfront Toronto board of directors — political appointees, overwhelmingly from corporate backgrounds — <a href="http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/nbe/wcm/connect/waterfront/7dd4df9f-7a2c-4277-820a-e2ebcd3148b2/Board+Item+3b+-+Draft+Minutes+of+the+October+16%2C+2017+Special+Board+Meeting.pdf">held a closed meeting in October</a> after giving its own real estate committee less than four days to look at the Google plan.</p>
<p>It quickly proceeded to a big photo-op featuring Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, without the release of either the agreement itself or any prior studies that would justify its development.</p>
<p>City staff, who have noted that even their waterfront planning experts were not consulted, <a href="http://app.toronto.ca/tmmis/viewAgendaItemHistory.do?item=2018.EX30.9">have recently raised important issues</a> regarding potential conflicts between Google’s ambitions and public laws and policies. For example, the city has a fair procurement policy that would not allow it to let a big U.S. company have any kind of monopoly.</p>
<p>Even more worrying, Waterfront Toronto has declared that so-called Sidewalk TO will begin with the 12-acre <a href="http://www.waterfrontoronto.ca/nbe/portal/waterfront/Home/waterfronthome/projects/quayside">Quayside,</a> but “will then expand to 325 hectares (800 acres).”</p>
<p>“Will” is a peculiar word here. </p>
<p>Google does not own any of the land, so it’s not even in a position to seek development permission, much less approve its own plans. </p>
<h2>The city has other ideas</h2>
<p>For the larger 800-acre area, known as the Portlands, Toronto’s city council recently approved its own, much-discussed plan, one that focuses on <a href="http://toronto.citynews.ca/2017/12/05/port-lands-expansion-proposal-film/">preserving film studio space</a> and makes no mention of Google. </p>
<p>At a recent University of Toronto panel on the proposal, the vice-president of Waterfront Toronto, Kristina Verner, was confronted with the discrepancy about what land is actually in play. </p>
<p>She explained that the plan would only come to fruition if Google’s Sidewalk Labs was given control over the larger area. Because the city appears reluctant, for good reason, to give important city planning powers about an 800-acre expanse to an American corporation, the agreement could fall apart. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, other corporations could easily be inspired by the much-touted Google plan to propose smart-city, tech-oriented neighbourhood plans to other municipalities. </p>
<p>It’s clear that tech companies expanding into city planning puts at risk the core democratic principles of Canadian urban planning and city-building. </p>
<p>Corporations are not responsible to the people. And politicians can easily be seduced by visions of high-tech jobs. Only citizens can remind politicians that city building does involve deals — but only deals that have the public interest at heart, deals that respect public laws and policies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/90611/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mariana Valverde has received funding from the federal granting agency for social science and humanities research, SSHRC.</span></em></p>Google’s proposals for a high-tech development on Toronto’s lakefront is a radical departure from the principles that have guided city planning in Canada for decades.Mariana Valverde, Urban law and governance, infrastructure researcher; professor of socio-legal studies, University of TorontoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.