I've always been fascinated by this drawing. Something about it just felt... off to me, and I love the visual. Kidd surrounded by decay and destruction, by industrial collapse, smiling away and building towards the future.
It's both inspirational and tragic.
What always struck me in terms of the art in the technology here, is how... decayed it looks. Like something went REALLY wrong here. But, we have next to no information on this island besides a brief recount of the gang war that brough Kidd, Killer, Heat, and Wire together, and led to their crush, Victoria Shiruton Doruyanaika, dying tragically.
Everything looks... incredibly RUSTY.
I no longer believe this devastation had natural causes.
I believe the destruction that occurred on Kidd's Island of Kutsukku, was a direct result of Imu using this Mist to attack the island, in fear of its powerful technology.
Who built this place, and with what funding?
Captain John sought to make his homeland, Kutsukku, safe from the World Government, through technologic superiority.
We see him utilizing a mechanical arm in God Valley, indicating that, like Kidd, he was good with technology.
Kutsukku was John's Island, destroyed by Imu's mist for standing against the World Government.
If Thriller Bark really IS Esperia, this makes things more interesting: John's zombie ended up on an island that suffered the same fate as Kutsukku.
This is why we haven't gotten Kidd's backstory, yet: Oda wanted to do Brook's backstory first to introduce the concept of Imu using his Evil Mist to rust/destroy a nation.
Esperia's main export was musical instruments, that suffered from rust.
Kutsukku Island looks like it's more or less a giant factory... the entire island would have become a hazard.
If this theory is correct, and Kidd's homeland was destroyed by the same Imy Mist that plagued Esperia, we could very well see Kidd return soon, since Oda has gotten Brook's backstory out of the way.