Originally conceived back in the 1960s, EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) was supposed to be a utopian city, featuring residences, a transportation system, schools, and more.
Unfortunately, when Walt Disney died in 1966, his utopian dream did too. While EPCOT was the most expensive private construction project the world had seen, when it opened in 1982, the theme park didn’t hold a flame to Disney’s original plans.
Forty years since EPCOT opened its doors, Disney announced this week that it’ll be partnering with third-party developers to build communities for superfans interested in living within a fairytale.
While there aren’t any hard dates yet, it’s hard to imagine the community being all it’s cracked up to be. After all, EPCOT wasn’t the first failed utopia, and certainly won’t be the last. But who knows, maybe partnerships are the secret to a successful utopian society! These failed utopias all lacked a powerful partnership to steer them toward success.
Brook Farm, Massachusetts, US
Located near Boston, Brook Farm was an experimental commune of Transcendentalists formed in the 1840s. Residents were to provide labor at the farm in exchange for a share of the profits. Unfortunately, the farm never was quite profitable, and after a smallpox outbreak in 1845, and a fire in 1846, the “utopian” community dissolved.
Fruitlands, Massachusetts, US
Fruitlands was another Transcendentalist community founded in Massachusetts. This utopia, dissolved far quicker than most, due to dietary restrictions and strict farming practices. Residents were vegans, could only drink water, and were banned from planting root vegetables that might disturb worms. This utopia disbanded within seven months.
Fordlandia, Santarém, Brazil
Back in the 1920s, Henry Ford faced a conundrum not far off from supply chain challenges car manufacturers are facing today: there was a rubber shortage. Ford purchased thousands of miles of land in Brazil, with a goal to produce as much rubber as possible. Riots from locals and the invention of synthetic rubber caused Fordlandia’s demise.
Drop City, Colorado, US
A quartet of students founded Drop City in 1965 when they purchased a plot of land in Colorado. There, the students set up geodesic domes built from sheets of scrap metal. This utopia was ultimately dismantled due to personality conflicts, an anticlimactic end compared to other utopian societies of the time.
What would your utopia feature? Let us know in #watercooler!
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