This is a tale of two cities — Toronto and Barcelona — that may hold important lessons for others around the world. Both have big ambitions to change the way they operate but reflect very different visions of how smart cities should be run.

In Toronto, citizens have just submitted their initial reactions to Sidewalk Labs’ Master Innovation and Development Plan to develop a 12-acre waterfront district known as Quayside. This offshoot of Google promises to use innovative design and the latest digital technologies to create a radically new kind of urban community that it hopes to replicate elsewhere.

Born in the realm of bits, Google has been taking an increasing interest in the world of atoms. It recently announced a separate $1bn contribution to help develop 20,000 new homes in Silicon Valley over the next 10 years.