Fr : version française / En: english version
.mheu, Historical Museum of the Urban Environment
Babel and Babylon
Aztec cities
Heavenly Jerusalem
The Fujian Tulou
Utopia
Romorantin, capital of a kingdom...
The city of brotherly love
Saint Petersburg, Peter's great city
Industry, socialism and utopia
Taking technology to new heights
Home sweet home
A towering challenge...
New towns
Conjuring capitals
Auroville: "divine anarchy"
Private cities
Dubai: miracle or mirage?
All eyes on the horizon
Other proponents of happier utopian societies chose to rethink the city with more of a fun feel. From Jules Vernes to Albert Robida, advances in technology led to some wild and whacky ideas!
A political candidate by the name of Duconnaud once made an electoral promise to extend Boulevard Saint-Michel as far as the sea. The idea was taken up by Ferdinand Lop who, in answer to the question of which end would be extended, casually replied that it would stretch to the sea from either end.
In another crackpot attempt to improve life in Paris, Albert Caperon, a candidate in the 1893 legislative election, backed by Georges Courteline and Alphonse Allais, proposed transforming Place Pigalle into a sea port... That idea, along with a number of other equally far-fetched plans, garnered Mr Caperon the grand total of 176 votes!
Although many of these inventions raised a few eyebrows, some found useful applications. For instance, the mechanical sidewalk, invented in the United States, was unveiled at the Universal Exhibition of 1900 as a new, fun form of transportation—nobody at the time imagined how it would change urban life... More recent technological wonders include the heliport on top of the Burj al-Arab Hotel.