What will London look like at mid-century? According to this futuristic London Underground map, it will be full of geothermal plants and algae factories that double as housing towers. Plus Tripods and giant mushrooms. We've got the full map below.
Artist Nils Norman created this map for future tourists in London as part of the Picadilly Line's 100th anniversary, and it was featured recently on Strange Maps. Strange Maps offers a thorough account of how the city has changed in 40 years, and explains (in part):
The fancy district of Mayfair seems to have gone down in the world by 2050. North of the Green Park tube station are half a dozen stark, green housing towers, doubling as algae factories. Algae are fast-growing organisms that can turn sunlight into chemical energy while absorbing CO2 from the air, enabling the production of biofuels. Further algae production is taking place in the Chelsea Algae Ponds, just south of South Kensington tube station, and in the West London Algae Ponds to the north of Earls Court Road.
Nearby Hyde Park (and Kensington Gardens) have been turned into Hyde Park Adventure Playground, while across from Hyde Park Corner there is the St James's Park and Buckingham Palace Gardens Adventure Playground Chain. One has to assume the Royal Family has been persuaded to open up the gardens of its palace to the public – or that the public has decided to do away with them. Towards the river, we have Cedric Price's Fun Palace, Mike Webb's Sin Centre and the Westminster Bog and Wetland Chain (again, one has to assume that the Houses of Parliament have been generous with their property, or have been chased off it). Nextdoor, in the still-political village of Westminster, are the orwellian Ministries of Truth, Love, Peace and Plenty.
Read more about the features of this map via Strange Maps