Rob from Rob Plays takes an in-depth look at Walt Disney's grand plan to make an experimental prototype city of tomorrow.
From Rob's description:
All of it, on paper is nothing crazy. It would all be designed in a very specific way with one person overseeing it all, which was unique, but it was all within the realm of possibility.
From a practical construction and technology standpoint, there were only two major complications with EPCOT city. The first was the fact that the proposed 50 acre shopping center surrounding the hotel was going to be completely enclosed and climate controlled.
That said, while the costs of something as futuristic sounding as a climate controlled city center might have been a problem, it still could have been possible.
The second road bump would have potentially been the city's various layers. In order to keep traffic flowing through EPCOT and in an attempt to keep the bulk of the city focused on the people mover and monorail, automotive traffic would be limited to two layers beneath the city.
In theory Disney could have allowed the trucks to pass on the ground level, and cars to pass on the level above it. That would mean putting the rest of the city center on the third layer. If building a 50 acre enclosed shopping district wasn’t hard enough, doing it on top of two other layers would just be that much harder.
My guess is that it would have been cool at first, then at some point would lose its lustre and come to be seen as kitschy or weird, then eventually be remade as something retro-chic.
• Would EPCOT Have Worked? (YouTube / Rob Plays)
