| Description |
This thesis studies the importance of Utopian city planning in attempting to transform our communities and solve the social issues faced throughout the 19th and 20th Centuries. Idealist city plans originated as a genre of literature dating back to the 16th Century, playing a vital social role throughout history and serving as an intellectual guide in city building. These plans continue to impact city planning and decision makers by addressing the complex challenges of modern city life. The impact of Utopian plans is especially evident in the Plat of the City of Zion, Ebenezer Howard's Garden City, Le Corbusier's Contemporary City for Three Million Inhabitants, Frank Lloyd Wright's Broadacre City, and Walt Disney's original plans for EPCOT. These plans addressed social and philosophical issues faced during their respective time of creation and represented the personal beliefs of the authors attempting to solve them. With all five plans, the primary goal was to create order and elevate the individual, especially through the use of technology and community. Many of these plans relied heavily on the one that came before, yet each proposed very different ideas. The idea for EPCOT borrowed from both Howard's and Le Corbusier's ideas, but EPCOT's plan proposed a city that took the earlier plans a number of steps forward. Despite the fact that all of these plans were never fully realized as intended (if at all), they represent the continued use of Utopian plans throughout history, setting forth explicit ideas on how to reform cities, providing creative ideas for decision makers when determining the best path forward, and continuing the tradition of city planning as an intellectual invention. |
