What Makes a Utopia?

While reading, I found myself thinking about the objectives and purposes of the worlds presented within the Utopia's we've seen. In Brave New World, people are decanted and bred for specific roles, and they are clean, safe, and sterile within their boundaries. The overwhelming drive behind their world is to live for pleasure and order. In The Caves of Steel, their New York City is run by a desire to live collectively and sustainably within their own bubble, however limited or dangerous that may be. Parable of the Sower, however, seems rooted in necessity, poverty, and survival. Lauren brings forth a lot of philosophical questions that not only reveal her current utopia, but one that she envisions for the future.

So, do Utopias stem from the thoughts and idealisms of the few or of the many? And what does the author reveal by the subtle (or unsubtle) forces at play within their world-building, as I mentioned above? So far we've been privy to Lauren's construction of an Earthseed philosophy that dithers on change. How is change important to Utopia - both in the ones we've seen (as used as contrasts to something bad or lesser) and the one(s) we strive for in our own reality?

https://sites.google.com/a/depauw.edu/the-parable-of-the-sower/_/rsrc/1472852703182/earthseed/strong__caring_hands_by_Rin_Uzuki.jpg?height=257&width=320