Abbott introduces various imaginary cities featured in different films. All these cities have characteristics that are different from reality. For instance, the walking city, Armada, the ‘Earth’, etc. However, despite the difference in physical structure, all these cities relate back to our modern cities in some ways. Take Snowpiercer as an example, human activities cause Earth to enter a new ice age’, thus all left human beings were taken on a ‘self-sustaining’ train. The train is divided into different classes. The top train is for the rich and powerful people, while the lower cabin is for the people with lower

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Reading introduces the cities in the movie, many of which have a clear hierarchical setting. I think a large part of how these cities work is based on hierarchy. In Snowpiercer, for example, class differences in trains are also an important part. I think in a lot of cases the imaginary cities in the film create this kind of hierarchal disparity that adds to the contradictions of the film. And more importantly, many times these contradictions change things. Although the class conflict in the film is more serious, it also reflects the situation faced by real human beings, so it

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This article introduces many different types of imagined cities in science fiction movies which depitcted a despair and cruelty of the urban future. As what the author has mentioned about Mortal Engines, a book written in his article, described the city of the future with all possibilities while social classes are polarised to extremes: the elite would be so privileged that they can live in a good life, but the factories of the lower classes strike in squalor. The author has created a false utopia. Many pessimistic cities of the future were labelled as “moving cities”, and no matter what

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This article shows us various types of imaginary cities. Those imaginary cities often have a background setting of catastrophe, and human social issues that exist in reality are magnified after the disaster. These cities’ functions are also used to tackle the problems humans would go through. For example, “Walking city” describes a city with extensive legs that can let it migrate from one place to another. The imagination of “Walking city” indicated people’s potential worries about future environmental pollution. It also reflects the reality of the lack of public transportation resources. Another example is the film “Snowpiercer”. In the movie, people

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After reading, I was interested in the walking city mentioned in the first half. The residents can move the whole city anytime when there is serious environmental pollution and political oppression. In such a situation, people really have human rights and initiative. The author points out that such cities are not only hunters, but also gatherers and traders. Each independent city had a high degree of economic development and autonomous power. Each inhabitant is indispensable. The article’s “urban robots with huge extendable legs” is also a reflection of the unprecedented development of technology. In the future, advanced artificial intelligence and

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