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The City in 1950

 (Public Domain)

This illustration was done in 1925 for Popular Science Monthly. It looked just 25 years into the future, and saw something grand:

Future city streets … will be in four levels: The top level for pedestrians; the next lower level for slow motor traffic; the next for fast motor traffic; and the lowest for electric trains. Great blocks of terraced skyscrapers half a mile high will house offices, schools, homes, and playgrounds in successive levels, while the roofs will be aircraft landing-fields…

Such optimism. Such faith in progress and civil engineering. So wrong.

What will the world look like 25 years from now?

* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "Getting There." Read all stories from this blog