Thirty-three years ago, Walt Disney tried to create a place where people could see the future with their own eyes. The EPCOT (Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow) Center was meant to be a window into mankind’s fantastical future. Yet his idea of the “prototype community” was not original; he pulled the concept from 19th century futurist Ebenezer Howard’s “garden cities of tomorrow.”
The idea was that to plan a city most efficiently, it was necessary to lay out a circular design with a series of rings. The innermost ring of the city would be the municipal and commercial center, with greenbelts between that initial ring and the residential ring. The thought was that the greenbelt would provide the appropriate sustainability and tranquility necessary for the ideal society, a thought that has been widely promoted in recent years. The concept was seen as a revolutionary and unprecedented statement in city planning. This would have been a genuine spark of genius on Howard’s part; however, whether he realized it or not, even he was not the author of this revolutionary concept.
Blueprints for the “cities of tomorrow” have actually been in existence for millennia. In the Bible, the book of Numbers contains a set of instructions inspired by God, for constructing a very special type of city. Within those instructions, God designed pastures to extend 1,000 cubits outside the city walls, approximately the equivalent of one-third of a mile (cf. Numbers 35). These pastures would serve to feed livestock for the city’s sustenance, and if a city were for example one mile across, then that city would have more than 1,500 acres of pastureland surrounding it. These cities were to be centers for guidance, governing and education—not large by today’s standard, but their impact was to be felt throughout the nation of Israel; they were meant primarily to develop and advance people, not to multiply distractions and preoccupations. God’s “cities of tomorrow” will focus on the development of the individual into the likeness of God, rather than being concrete jungles where people live on top of one another.
Soon, God will use these ancient blueprints to create a beautiful future for mankind. He is extending an invitation to some today, to help fulfill instrumental roles in building that future—a future that brings a tangible hope! As God planned to use the Levites as priests to the physical nation of Israel, He will in the near future use those He is calling now to be leaders, ruling over cities in His Kingdom in sustainable, just and ethical ways as members of His Family (Daniel 7:18; Matthew 25:14–30; Revelation 5:8–10).
No, the future most likely will not bring hovercars, and humankind may not reach Mars before Christ’s return (although I am still holding out hope for those self-tying Nikes). The cities of tomorrow may not have a lot of gadgets and “things,” but they will bring tranquility, peace and joy to those who dwell within them.