Google-affiliated Sidewalk Labs has big plans for its 'city of the future'

Sidewalk Labs, a top-secret urban innovation division run under Google's parent company Alphabet, wants to improve city life for city-dwellers by reinventing public parking and transportation. Its first testing grounds - Columbus, Ohio - may host subsidized ride-sharing, a service that finds free parking spots, and an artificial intelligence platform that will help meter maids fine more people, all in the Buckeye State capital. Earlier in 2016, Sidewalk Labs announced plans to buy up land in major US cities and transform the parcels into ultra-high tech municipalities. In conjunction with the US Department of Transportation, it launched the Smart City Challenge to identify a launchpad for its innovations. The Guardian revealed on Monday never-before-seen documents and proposals from the Smart City Challenge.