When one thinks Disney, one thinks of fantasy, princesses, wizards, dragons, and magic. However, one word you probably don't think of is futurism. However, Disney has had a long history futuristic thinking. From Tomorrowland in Disneyland, to the "Man in Space" specials he made in the 50's, Walt Disney had a certain interest in the future, and the possibilities it brought forth.(And before you comment, no, his head is not cryogenically frozen. He was cremated, and his ashes are at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.) And towards the end of his life, he conceived of a city of the future, which he would build in Florida. While there isn't a city, you know this concept better as "EPCOT.
By the 1960's, Walt Disney had already established his monumental family-friendly image, and his even larger animation company. From his humble roots as the son of a farmer, through establishing his own animation company with his brother in 1923, his struggles as an cartoonist in the 1920's and 30's, to finally getting success with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 1937, he had finally succeeded in the American Dream. However, he had many grandkids, and he was concerned about what kind of world they would inhabit. At the time, the inner city had undergone urban decay, and were not particularly nice places to live. Disney contrasted this with the controlled environment he had at California's Disneyland. So, he thought, what if he and his Imagineers could build not just a theme park, but an entire community, which would be a safe haven, with a controlled environment the same as Disneyland. So, he delved into the topic of city-planning, and drew up plans for a city of his own. At the same time, he had made several pavilions for the 1964 World's Fair, and he began to make plans from that for a Disneyland on the East Coast. However, he decided to build something more impressive. He determined Florida to be the best location for his project, and promptly purchased 27,800 acres of Florida Swampland, and convinced the Florida State Legislature to give his company full control of this land. At said company, the board wasn't entirely convinced that an entire city was feasible from an entertainment company. They wanted a Disneyland on the East Coast. Disney relented, and placed the theme park on the northmost portion of the city, so they could experience the whole thing. In October of 1966, he produced a small film about his EPCOT project( which one can see here). He had hoped to use the film as a way of convincing industry to support his project by contributing technology to it. However, whilst Disney was plotting the future, his future was sadly ending. On December 15th, 1966, Walt Disney died of lung cancer in Burbank, California. After his death, his brother, whilst weary of EPCOT, still carried on the project. However, the Disney board formally nixed any plan. However, they went ahead with the theme park idea. Walt Disney World Resort opened on October 1st, 1971, with the Magic Kingdom, and a few hotels around it. However, that was not the end of the EPCOT idea. The concept morphed from a full on city, to more of a permanent World's fair, where technological innovations would be on display, as well as world cultures.In the late 70's, Roy Walker, CEO of Walt Disney (the company) wanted to re-explore EPCOT. However, the board ultimately decided it wasn't feasible. However, an Epcot center was added to Disney World as a compromise, which opened in 1982. The center would be more of an area to communicate ideas than an actual living place. It still resides in Walt Disney World today. They also built the community of Celebration, Florida in 1996, though that is based more off new urbanism than futurism.
So, what was this city going to be, exactly? Well, first, and foremost, the city would be build in a radial pattern. It generally rotates out of a single core area. The urban density lowers as you ,move away from the center. A monorail, like the one in Disneyland, would be the main source of transportation, connecting the Northern and Southern portions of the Disney World property. Inside EPCOT, the WEDway PeopleMover would be the main source of transportation. It would be a train that ran on motors in the rails, rather than the vehicle itself. It would transport residents from the city center to the other residential areas. ( A "PeopleMover" can be found in Disney World today.) Cars would only be needed for ""only for weekend pleasure trips." Most of the supplies would be transported through underground tunnels within the city.(Apparently, Ol'Walt didn't want the residents to see the supplies for the city get transported into the city.) These two lines would converge at a Transporation Lobby, which would allow for transfers between the local PeopleMover, and the Monorail to the park. At the city center, there would be the 30-story Cosmopolitan Hotel, where guests could engage in leisurely activities. Outside of the hotel would be the shopping district, called "The International Shopping Center," where various cultures across the worlds were represented. (This evolved into the World Pavilions at the Epcot theme park.) Outside the Shopping Center, there would be the high density residential areas, where the 20k residents of the city would live in apartment. They would be no retirement. Rather, everyone who lived there would be a worker in the city center. Also, the people wouldn't actually own the apartments, but are actually renters. The apartments were actually build to allow for the newest technology to be integrated easily. Residents could come home to find their appliances changed. (That actually scares me.) Finally, there is the Green Belt, and the low Density areas, where the services, like schools, community centers, and churches, would be provided. As for visitors, after they arrive in the Disney World Airport or by car (going through the underground tunnels, like they're going from Britain to France), they will go to the Disney World Welcome Center, where they meet guides who speak in their home languages. After all aspects of their trip are planned, They then move through the EPCOT industrial park, where major American corporations would work to make new technologies for the city. After they had seen the whole area, than they get to the theme park area last.
So, will it work? Honestly, I don't know. Though, I would note that the scale is too grandiose for a single company who made cartoons. Similarly, the fact that no one owns property would not go over well, with potential buyers. It's clear that it wouldn't work as a city. As a permanent World's fair, it has worked for 30 years. So, why am I talking about this? I mean, there's not like there's a film that describes a future society. And is produced by Disney. And will debut next week....
See you next week.
Sources:
The Original E.P.C.O.T Project:
https://sites.google.com/site/theoriginalepcot/
Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Prototype_Community_of_Tomorrow_(concept)
Walt Disney's Vision of an EPCOT- JustDisney.com
http://www.justdisney.com/Features/walts_epcot/
By the 1960's, Walt Disney had already established his monumental family-friendly image, and his even larger animation company. From his humble roots as the son of a farmer, through establishing his own animation company with his brother in 1923, his struggles as an cartoonist in the 1920's and 30's, to finally getting success with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 1937, he had finally succeeded in the American Dream. However, he had many grandkids, and he was concerned about what kind of world they would inhabit. At the time, the inner city had undergone urban decay, and were not particularly nice places to live. Disney contrasted this with the controlled environment he had at California's Disneyland. So, he thought, what if he and his Imagineers could build not just a theme park, but an entire community, which would be a safe haven, with a controlled environment the same as Disneyland. So, he delved into the topic of city-planning, and drew up plans for a city of his own. At the same time, he had made several pavilions for the 1964 World's Fair, and he began to make plans from that for a Disneyland on the East Coast. However, he decided to build something more impressive. He determined Florida to be the best location for his project, and promptly purchased 27,800 acres of Florida Swampland, and convinced the Florida State Legislature to give his company full control of this land. At said company, the board wasn't entirely convinced that an entire city was feasible from an entertainment company. They wanted a Disneyland on the East Coast. Disney relented, and placed the theme park on the northmost portion of the city, so they could experience the whole thing. In October of 1966, he produced a small film about his EPCOT project( which one can see here). He had hoped to use the film as a way of convincing industry to support his project by contributing technology to it. However, whilst Disney was plotting the future, his future was sadly ending. On December 15th, 1966, Walt Disney died of lung cancer in Burbank, California. After his death, his brother, whilst weary of EPCOT, still carried on the project. However, the Disney board formally nixed any plan. However, they went ahead with the theme park idea. Walt Disney World Resort opened on October 1st, 1971, with the Magic Kingdom, and a few hotels around it. However, that was not the end of the EPCOT idea. The concept morphed from a full on city, to more of a permanent World's fair, where technological innovations would be on display, as well as world cultures.In the late 70's, Roy Walker, CEO of Walt Disney (the company) wanted to re-explore EPCOT. However, the board ultimately decided it wasn't feasible. However, an Epcot center was added to Disney World as a compromise, which opened in 1982. The center would be more of an area to communicate ideas than an actual living place. It still resides in Walt Disney World today. They also built the community of Celebration, Florida in 1996, though that is based more off new urbanism than futurism.
So, what was this city going to be, exactly? Well, first, and foremost, the city would be build in a radial pattern. It generally rotates out of a single core area. The urban density lowers as you ,move away from the center. A monorail, like the one in Disneyland, would be the main source of transportation, connecting the Northern and Southern portions of the Disney World property. Inside EPCOT, the WEDway PeopleMover would be the main source of transportation. It would be a train that ran on motors in the rails, rather than the vehicle itself. It would transport residents from the city center to the other residential areas. ( A "PeopleMover" can be found in Disney World today.) Cars would only be needed for ""only for weekend pleasure trips." Most of the supplies would be transported through underground tunnels within the city.(Apparently, Ol'Walt didn't want the residents to see the supplies for the city get transported into the city.) These two lines would converge at a Transporation Lobby, which would allow for transfers between the local PeopleMover, and the Monorail to the park. At the city center, there would be the 30-story Cosmopolitan Hotel, where guests could engage in leisurely activities. Outside of the hotel would be the shopping district, called "The International Shopping Center," where various cultures across the worlds were represented. (This evolved into the World Pavilions at the Epcot theme park.) Outside the Shopping Center, there would be the high density residential areas, where the 20k residents of the city would live in apartment. They would be no retirement. Rather, everyone who lived there would be a worker in the city center. Also, the people wouldn't actually own the apartments, but are actually renters. The apartments were actually build to allow for the newest technology to be integrated easily. Residents could come home to find their appliances changed. (That actually scares me.) Finally, there is the Green Belt, and the low Density areas, where the services, like schools, community centers, and churches, would be provided. As for visitors, after they arrive in the Disney World Airport or by car (going through the underground tunnels, like they're going from Britain to France), they will go to the Disney World Welcome Center, where they meet guides who speak in their home languages. After all aspects of their trip are planned, They then move through the EPCOT industrial park, where major American corporations would work to make new technologies for the city. After they had seen the whole area, than they get to the theme park area last.
So, will it work? Honestly, I don't know. Though, I would note that the scale is too grandiose for a single company who made cartoons. Similarly, the fact that no one owns property would not go over well, with potential buyers. It's clear that it wouldn't work as a city. As a permanent World's fair, it has worked for 30 years. So, why am I talking about this? I mean, there's not like there's a film that describes a future society. And is produced by Disney. And will debut next week....
See you next week.
Sources:
The Original E.P.C.O.T Project:
https://sites.google.com/site/theoriginalepcot/
Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Experimental_Prototype_Community_of_Tomorrow_(concept)
Walt Disney's Vision of an EPCOT- JustDisney.com
http://www.justdisney.com/Features/walts_epcot/
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