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Innovative MICC creates the 'theme park of the new millennium'
The MICC is to be a world-class theme park, lifestyle hotel and entertainment tourist destination located on an 895-acre site situated north of Mumbai, India. This multifunctional project is composed of a theme park for 10 million visitors, 10,000 hotel rooms, 2,000 residential units and lifestyle components such as retail, spa, restaurants and cultural centers (including 2,000-seat concert hall).
The proposed park is based on the shared ideal of human creativity and draws inspiration from diverse sources: Indian culture, symbolism and cosmology, the human body as well as fabled lost cities. The signature element of the project is definitely its layout in the iconic shape of the double helix of the human DNA – the original matrix for creativity and humanity. The two interlaced strips mark the perimeter of the development and include all hotels and residential units. The strips also delineate four central north-south loops along a central axis; these loops act as focal points for specific activities. This unique plan allows for the project to be developed in 4 zones: the Global Pagoda Loop, the Theme Park Loop, the Lifestyle Loop and the Residential Loop. The overall scheme provides an increased level of synergy between the different components and facilitates overall accessibility by means of a continuous monorail system connecting the four loops.
Furthermore, the project radically differs from conventional theme park schemes in that it proposes a reduced ecological footprint and emphasises sustainability. In fact, the master plan rethinks the conventional 'Disney' theme park model by eliminating functional zoning of program components (resort, theme park, leisure, support, etc.) and instead proposes an integrated, dynamic and compact development, much like a dense urban environment. It also differs from customary commercial planning wisdom by relying on authenticity as a key driving value and by providing continuous stimulation of higher-level thinking such as problem-solving and creativity in park visitors.
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