In 1857 The Leisure Hour published London a Hundred Years Hence, a vision of the city a century later. Its author was too utopian about poverty, crime and smoke, but got several things right: London's sprawl into places such as Kew, Hammersmith and Lewisham, and the Thames Embankment, whose construction began five years later. The piece also described huge stores under one roof, one for each trade in a district, and households ordering goods by wire, with delivery by the next passing train. It anticipated the department store and remote ordering, using electric wires as the means.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.