An investment firm headed by Bill Gates has pledged $80M toward the building of a smart city in Arizona.
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The city, which has been named Belmont and sits about 45 minutes from Phoenix, will work off a communication and infrastructure spine that incorporates high-speed digital networks, data centers, new manufacturing technologies and distribution models, as well as include autonomous vehicles and logistics hubs, Popular Mechanics reports.
Belmont will encompass 25,000 acres and will be connected to Las Vegas via freeway I-11.
The city is expected to have a population comparable to Tempe, Arizona, and will dedicate 3,800 acres to office, retail and commercial space. In addition, 470 acres will be dedicated to public schools while the remainder will be used for 80,000 residential units.
Sidewalk Labs, a division of Google parent company Alphabet Inc., also recently announced a $1B smart city initiative in conjunction with Waterfront Toronto. The city will encompass a 12-acre section of Toronto's waterfront area with plans to include 3.3M SF of commercial, office and residential space if all goes well.
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