Canadian smart community is the "city of the future"

A Canadian town is being transformed into a smart community by combining fibre optics, autonomous vehicles and drone ports within a rural setting.

Toronto-based architecture studio Partisans have come up with the plans for the town of Innisfil, about 60km from Toronto.

Innisfil has been described by Partisans as being “renowned for thinking big” as it currently accepts cryptocurrency payments for municipal taxes and fees as well as being one of the first places to pilot the Uber app.

The project, called ‘The Orbit,’ will aim to transform Innisfil into “the city of the future.”

The Orbit is our vision for a complete, cutting-edge community

"The Orbit is our vision for a complete, cutting-edge community where small town and rural lifestyles are enhanced by the benefits and attributes of urban living," said Partisans.

"We have also discussed the possibilities of the following: state of the art health and wellness campus connected to larger hospitals in the region by technology, drone ports on top of the station for last-mile delivery, autonomous driving infrastructure and more," said Partisans co-founder Alex Josephson.

The Orbit stretches over 40 million square feet (four million square meters) and is designed to accommodate a population that will grow from 30,000 to 150,000 people in Innisfil. It is just one of a number of plans for smart cities across North America. These include a smart forest in Mexico and a blockchain-powered community in Nevada.

"Through intelligent and superior architectural design, the Orbit seamlessly consolidates and reduces sprawl, while providing communities with a closer relationship to nature while reducing pressure on infrastructure," said Partisans.