Worldbuilding Discussion: Cities!

[AwesomeSaucer]

So, time for another one of these! 

This time, let's discuss the biggest cities and metropolitan areas in your nation.  Are they sprawling, light-filled, tron-like areas, or quieter?  Are they laid out conventionally, or not?  How do roads, bike paths, and public transport work?  What are the most popular tourist attractions?  Cultural locations?

Have fun!  Pictures are absolutely allowed!

[Khem]

Infrastructure:
Integrated agriculture, vertical farms, chimpayas, modern sewer systems with UV purification, water purification. Solar, geothermal, wind, wave energy. Stormwater mitigation systems. Industrial waste recycling. Recycling centers. Canals, subway, skyline cars. Subterranean structures match vertical construction. Geometric patterns and intentional cityscapes from millenia of central planning by multiple dynasties.

[Prydania]

Some cities of Prydania...

Beaconsfiled
Capital
Middle Lowland

St. Tobias' Palace, residence of the Monarch of Prydania



St. Tobias' Palace from the street



House of Parliament



Tower of Beaconsfield
Originally a castle structure, it's been added to and rebuilt many times over the years. It currently serves as a maximum security penitentiary.



Security and Special Intelligence Headquarters



Hadden
Northern Lowland



Avon
Southwestern Lowland





Sarum
Southwestern Lowland
Home town of Prime Minister Stephen Crofts, small community that relies on an agriculture-based economy



Sarum Church


Haland
Southern Upland



Darrow
Northern Upland





A traditional Upland-style Church, fully restored just outside of Darrow

[Aquatoria]

Keras itself is the name of not just the island its on but also its only city. A strategically located city sitting on one of the wealthiest trade routes in the world, the city has grown thusly. Ever since independence, Keras has overturned many of the laws that the Ozian government had imposed on it, such as the laws prohibiting skyscrapers.



The opening to the harbour



Downtown Keras



The Beacon of Hope, built on the ruins of the old People's Palace and houses the government offices and the legislature as well as major businesses

[St Oz]

"When I was banished, Pelagis protected me, fed me, clothed me, and housed me. I have a great apartment and friends here. But when I was allowed to come back, I smelled the gas and wood stoves from buildings, the roasting coffee, and the salt of the sea. I heard the train bouncing on its tracks, people arguing, and vendors shouting. Pelagis was great to me, but I'm Ozian and always considered Ozipol to be home."
-Aesun Sevlani, Poet

The first thing different about Ozia from other countries can be seen from the air. There are no skyscrapers in most of Ozia, those are only found in the autonomous People's Republic cities like Rastianav and La Sava. The Urban Code was developed during the cultural revolution of Ozia in order to preserve Ozian historic cities against industrialization and presently against modernization.

The People's Party keeps a very long list of guidelines on city code, and they're very strict about it. The government isn't afraid to tear down a house if the owners decided to paint it pink without the permission of the local government. Among those laws are a restriction on building heights, the law is 25 meters and only 6 stories but special permits can be attained for 35 meters and only 8 stories. Zoning is both simple and very complicated. There are only two types of building use-zoning in Ozia, "Manufacture" and "Living Space", but there's an extremely complex system of zoning ranging from the owner's "right to an automobile", "noise limits", "building mid-walls (buildings must be built in such a way that they can be built in a row)", "No agriculture", "local materials only", and several other nitpick regulations. Some complexities in the two zoning use types is that parking lots are included in manufacture unless the parking is being built underground, and agriculture is included into living space.

Among the code is a lot of strictly illegal stuff. One being that recent modern building techniques with steel, glass, and concrete are completely illegal. Building against the local city or neighborhood style is a good way to lose your building. No other religion may construct a place of worship within a kilometer of a Gaeanist Temple (which typically means most religions that are -permitted- have to worship outside the city because they're everywhere). No vendors within the one block adjacent to a Gaeanist Temple. Roads cannot end perpendicularly to a water way and there must be a building in between the road and the river/sea/lake. Businesses cannot demolish a building and build one in its place that matches to a company standard, and they must conform to the building which they purchased.

All of these codes apply to only the public, and only some regulations apply to the government. What eventually happens with these building codes is cities are built with only the tallest buildings being Gaeanist temples, libraries, schools, museums, and government buildings. However, city roads must conform to historical placements and create a confusing labyrinth for tourists and new residents to get lost in. Due to only two cities catering to office structures and tall skyscrapers, most international investment and Ozian headquarters go to those cities, while all other Ozian cities remain mostly Ozian with the few pockets of weirdo Myrorians, Khemish, or Jutensans. There's also an issue of housing, Long periods of housing shortages with a racial and gender bias have caused mass emigration to other countries and slums outside the cities. After the Greater War was the last housing shortage as population was down, savings from a long period of rationing created a housing boom, and slums received a lot of money to renovate their houses and buildings to code from the government with the new tax revenue.

Another impression from tourists is that Ozian cities have a grim feel to them, mostly caused by what architects call, "controlled chaos". There's a uniformity to the style of buildings, but they go every direction and curve or dip at every sudden hill or turn. The streets generally had no forethought put into them. You can get lost in the maze and turn up right where you started, or you might turn up to a random community of locals all sharing a pint in the courtyard between their buildings.

Here's some pictures of just some generic Ozian cities.

[Bustos]

The Cinco Buildings


Twenty-One, Chomsky
Valorium

In the capital city of Valorium, Twenty One, located in the state of Chomsky, is the headquarters of the Allied States of Bustos. The Cinco Buildings were built between 1974 and 2000. They did not get their name until 2003-4 when the Allied States bought and renovated 4 skyscrapers to consolidate their executive and upper management team. Each building is connected by a private subway system, with Cinco Uno as the central station. This subway system also serves as an emergency escape route for the executive team which leads to an undisclosed location outside of Twenty-One.

Cinco Uno (originally called One), built in 2000, is the premier building of the Allied States, which consist of 73 above ground floors, 5 underground floors, and a helipad on the roof. Floors 69-73 is the home to the Chairperson and his immediate family. Floor 68, holds the Chairperson's lavish office, which includes the Boardroom. Floor 67 holds his personal staff and bodyguards. It also hold the main security office and a small fully operational hospital. The remaining floors are distributed to the various Offices and their staff.

The 5 underground floors make up a nuclear bomb shelter. The top 3 sub-levels are used as a parking garage, followed by the central station, followed by an emergency command center.

Cinco Dos, Cinco Tres, Cinco Cuatro, and Cinco Cinco house the subsidiaries management and department offices.

[Myroria]

I've posted the following before, but I think it would be useful here. Far more Myrorians live in the rural interior of the nation than the large cities of Pelagis, Novrith, and Thanelen.

The Highways of Rural Myroria in Pictures
Tirvel Plantation, County Ivorheart

Tirvel Plantation is one of many towns incorporated in the early 21st century for election purposes. Formed out of several unorganized townships in 2003 several months before the first Assembly elections in the area, it comprises what was formally T12R3 EPP, T13R3 EPP, and T15R3 EPP (Townships 12, 13, and 15, range 3 east of Parvyn's Purchase). With a population of 102, Tirvel Plantation is a similar size to other Myrorian towns in the interior of the nation. It is represented in the Assembly by Hlenil Prildreth, of the Liberal Party.



An abandoned building near the old Tirvel Maple Sugar Tract, owned by the man who would lend the plantation his name.



Looking east down Ivorheart Highway 9, the main road through the town.



A logging truck heading north from County Traval.

Pelag's Notch, County Ivorheart

The unfortunately-named town of Pelag's Notch is situated in the mountains of southwestern County Ivorheart, and was incorporated in 1834. A thoroughfare for traffic heading east from Pelagis, it is one of the larger towns in rural Myroria, with a population of 1,340. Despite appeals by the General Assembly and the Association for Pelagian Remembrance to the town government to rid its name of the racial slur of "Pelag", the town's population steadfastly refuses to consider renaming their home, citing "tradition". There is one Pelagian family residing in the town, who could not be reached for comment.



The town library.



An old store in need of a paint job



The town cemetery, with Mount Vroseth in the background.

Sarevroth, County Traval

Located on the border with Letonna, northeast of Walun, Sarevroth is a bustling town of 963 that makes its living on logging and paper production. Founded after the Great War in one of the few tracts of forest undamaged by fighting, it grew rapidly to a population of over 2,000 but began a steady decline by the 1970s. This is a town of conservative Myrorians, many monarchist, that have hardened themselves through decades of hard labor.



A street heading towards the border with Letonna. A paper mill across the border employing Myrorians and Letonnese can be seen in the distance.



The only farm in town, situated on the western outskirts of town near an unimproved road heading into the woods.