If there's one thing we can't deny about the old Soviet Union, it's that its vision of a hyper-technological future was gigantic. Basically every aspect of our lives would be automated, a critical requirement for maintaining cities that stretch for kilometers into the sky, occupying the most hostile regions of Earth, and colonizing outer space. A 1976 children's film explores some of those concepts, making several predictions about what the world would be like in a century.

Personalized exam rooms, greenhouses with gardens that always stay green, a precise balance between new cities and old buildings, protection and imitation of nature, colonization of the sea with artificial islands... this old movie leaves no stone unturned. We all know what the fate of the Soviet Union was, but we are still quite far from 2076. Maybe some of this will become reality...?

The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
The welcome image, inviting us to explore the future of cities in 2076
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
The boy is happy for having passed an exam...
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
The school and his home are connected by long moving walkways
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
An elevator up to the 200th floor
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
There, a dome protects a garden controlled by artificial climate
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
The oldest part of the city, preserved and protected
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
There are still buildings of 9-16 stories
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
And this is how the new city looks
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
Building many small houses would inevitably 'occupy the entire surface of the Earth'
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
How could billions of people be accommodated...?
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
... and protect nature at the same time?
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
Cities must develop upwards
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
They must coexist with the nature around them, and grow like a living organism
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
Imitating a wheat spike
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
Plants build following the same rules as engineers, but their technology is much more precise and perfect
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
In the future, houses will probably be built like plants
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
Buildings inspired by tree branches
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
This city is three kilometers high
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
The 'roots' are deep, with warehouses, garages, and shops
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
A city with 170,000 inhabitants, occupying a fraction of the space and using fewer materials
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
With the sea covering more than two-thirds of the surface...
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
... why not make artificial islands and build cities on them?
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
An Antarctic dome that keeps in heat, provides protection against storms, and has projectors to compensate for the polar night
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
A city on the Moon, functioning as a giant laboratory
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
It could be built on the dark side to protect its inhabitants from radiation
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
The generation of air, food and water could be solved 'with our current technological level'
The Soviet Union of the Future: This Is How the Soviet Union Would Have Been in 2076 (Gallery)
The last image invites children to share their own ideas about the cities of the future