The idea of a "universal" city is based on the social theory of Sri Aurobindo and was put into practice by Mira Alfassa, who had organised the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Puducherry since the 1930s. Together with the Indian government, the concept of a universal city was also presented to the United Nations. In 1966 UNESCO adopted a resolution declaring recognition and support for the project.

Utopia is a philosophical dialogue written in Latin by Thomas Morus in 1516. The depiction of a distant "ideal" society provided the impetus for the genre of social utopia.