The genesis of Epcot began in the early 1960s with Walt Disney himself. After having many grandchildren, Walt began to worry about the world they would grow up in. He looked around the cities of America and though he could do better. The cities were full of crime, disorganized, dirty and hectic. Disneyland was the opposite of these things and Walt decided he could take the Disneyland philosophy and apply it to the real world. Disneyland also proved that Walt and his company was very efficient in the art of building and designing buildings. With these began to study and read about how to start a city.
The idea of a utopia city got it's name in 1966. Walt Disney narrated a video in witch he described his dream city.
The city would be housed near Disney World, and would be called the Experimental Community of Tomorrow or EPCOT. Walt called EPCOT, “the most exciting, by far the most important” and the heart of what he planned to do in Disney World. The city would take its cues from the new ideas and technologies of American industry and would be a “community of tomorrow”. Walt wanted to plan and design every detail of the city, in order to meet the public's needs. Industry was also expected to partner with Disney to solve the problems of the society and make EPCOT an utopia. Walt said that EPOCT would never be finished, it would always be improving. He hoped that when it was built it would house about 20,000 people.
EPCOT was laid out to be the perfect city. It took it's design from Disneyland, in that their would be a central hub that roads and monorails would connect to the other parts of the city. The center “hub” of EPCOT would have been a large business area. The area would have been under a dome that would control the temperature and weather. The busines area would have also included office buildings, shopping, and the “crown jewel” of EPCOT, Cosmopolitan Hotel. The hotel would be located at the center of EPCOT and would be 30 stories tall. The Hotel would also house (in the basement) the transportation lobby of EPCOT. Underground, People Movers would transport people to the various parts of EPCOT. Cars and Trucks would also have underground highways that they would be able to use. No gas vehicles would travel above land. Also in the business area of EPCOT would be a shopping center featuring items from around the world. Offices, theaters, nightlife and restaurants would all be found in the business area.
Outside of the business area would be the high density apartment housing, Citizens who lived here would have the luxury of being close to business area, but would live in apartment complexes. Outside of the apartment housing was to be the recreation area. The recreation area would have consisted of things such as pools, parks, church's and schools. Beyond the recreation area would have been the residential neighborhood. This is where a large number of families would have lived. The area would have consisted of housing and small recreation areas such as playgrounds.
The final part of EPCOT would have been the industrial center. This is where companies from around the world would work on various projects. Walt wanted guests to be able to visit these companies and hopefully take some inspiration for industry home with them. In order to get to the rest of Walt Disney World and the EPCOT industrial center, citizens of EPCOT would take a monorail. The Monorail and the People Mover were expected to be the main methods of transportation in EPCOT thus eliminating traffic.