City Types

[Androv 6]

I've been thinking about this for a bit now - I wonder what real world cities we could try and 'classify' into one of the societal energy types.

My understanding so far is there are 6 energies:

Authority - State control of activities.
Creativity - Having fun, arts and culture.
Knowledge - Straightforward, schools, universities and stuff here.
Productivity - Making stuff - heavy industry, farms etc.
Spirituality - Religous and philosphical traits - elder's huts and churches and stuff.
Wealth - Seems like consumerism - the pursuit of money to buy things


So how could we compare these to real world cities?

Authority:  This one's easy, I'm guessing Pyongyang would be quite high on the 'Authority' energy.  Also 'Airstrip One'.
Creativity:  For a purely creative city, I'd suggest somewhere like Venice - oozes with cultural significance.
Knowledge:  Oxford or Cambridge - they are cities built around their universities.  I can't think of any capitals that might fit this category though.
Productivity:  A city fully devoted to heavy industry- I can't actually think of any modern cities that are like this.  More reminiscent of cities in the industrial age...  a small town could definitely fit in the productivity setting (my home town perhaps, we had a lot of farms and a central industrial section to process the raw goods)
Spirituality:  The Vatican would fit this.  Mecca.  Maybe Jerusalem (although you might need a dose of Authority in there as well...).
Wealth:  Consumerism.  I think most Australian and American cities would fit here.


So apart from the Wealth energy, there don't seem to be many cities that would fit the pure societal energies that well.  However, if you can select two cultural energies it becomes much easier...

Authority/Productivity:  Moscow circa 1980.  This just screams USSR to me.  Also perhaps China.
Authority/Wealth:  Shanghai?  Hong Kong?  This also says China given the relaxation of communism in the country.  Could also be the way many Western countries are headed with all the new terrorism laws :-P
Authority/Spirituality:  I think we've seen some evidence in Burma/Myanmar that these two can co-exist.  Would also fit a Theocracy with secret police (Tehran?)

Authority/Knowledge and Authority/Creative are tricky - maybe in the fantasty/sci-fi setting you could have a city built upon knowledge with ultra-strict law enforcement.  And I can't see creativity and authority mixing together too well (You WILL laugh at the mimes!  Or we will fry your brain.)

Productivity/Wealth would fit some American cities with a large manufacturing base (maybe Detroit?  Just pulling that from the original SimCity Scenario).  Australian cities are more purely wealth focussed I think.  It could also fit China, or Japan.

Spirituality/Wealth would suit some of the Middle Eastern cities like Riyadh or Dubai.

Creativity/Wealth for me suggests some of the European capitals - say London or Paris (more likely Paris :-P  ).  Significant cultural background + financial centres.

I could probably go on but I'll stop there.


I suppose what I'd like to see is that if you have a city with two cultural strengths, it will feel different to a city that only has one or a city that has one differing cultural strength.  Authority is the easiest for an example:
If I build a Authority/Productivity city, there should be a lot of mass transit use, less vehicular traffic, heavy pollution and Big Brother plastered over everything.  If I have a Authority/Knowledge city I'd prefer to see more high-tech looking buildings and streets, although again with Big Brother...

Sorry for ranting on, just felt the need to write this somewhere.

EDIT:  Melbourne, where I live - well I guess it's probably pure wealth with a smattering of authority and productivity.  Not much spirituality (except for the football).  Creativity - meh.  Knowledge?  Well we do have a number of universities although they don't form the major focus of the city.  So if I had to pick, I'd say:
Wealth 75%, Productivity 7.5%, Knowledge 10%, Authority 7.5%, Creativity/Spirituality <1%.

My home town is a small city about 200km from Melbourne, 30,000 people.  Large fruit factory and surrounding farmlands.  So I guess I'd make it:
Productivity 50%, Wealth 40%, Knowledge 5%, Authority 5%, Creativity/Spirituality <1%.

[Androv 6]

Night Duty is boring so I've kept on thinking, don't know why I post it here but I hope it gives people some ideas for their cities :-)

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Concept Cities

Knowledge

Country Name: Republic of Sophiana

Capital: Aldin

Climate: Tundra

Form of Government: Meritocracy

Ruler: Arch-Dean, elected by Dean's Council (top officials of every city)

Population: 2,400,000

The Republic of Sophiana, whose capital Aldin was founded by disgruntled students from neighbouring university, has a long tradition of education and knowledge as the foremost pillar of society. Even the site of Aldin, deep in the northern Tundra, was chosen for a lack of distractions to study as opposed to more material needs. Although only small in terms of population, the Sophists have resisted invasion in the past through the use of gadgets and technology. It is a member of the A7 and the Northern Coalition.

Geography

Sophiana abuts the northern pack ice and the northern parts of the country are frozen for the greater part of the year. An escarpment rises from the coast, the only natural harbour being at the mouth of the River Nerva. Beyond the escarpment the landscape is monotonous and grey. Towards the east of the country, the foothills of the Northern Alps add some variety. Vegetation is limited to the mountainous areas and near the banks of the Nerva and it's primary tributary Tractus.

Civilisation

Aldin, the capital, is located upstream of Nerva Harbour. It is home to Aldin University, the largest in Sophiana, as well as numerous libraries and schools. There is little pollution and a low crime rate. The other seven cities of Sophiana all boast smaller universities although each focuses on different areas of learning. Varin, the second largest city and named after the first dean of Aldin University, lies on the convergance of the Nerva and Tractus rivers. Transport is accomplished by the efficient use of underground mag-lev subway systems, although above-ground routes exist they are usually impassable during half the year.

Economy

Sophiana relies on the production of high-tech equipment as well as international university students for a substantial part of its income. The country also exports excess power from it's hugely efficient fusion reactors. The lack of fertile land requires the importation of many foodstuffs and the small manufacturing base can not supply many simpler tools.

City Concepts

For Aldin, I would be looking for buildings which generate knowledge and hopefully money. I'm not sure how the game will work in this respect but I assume there will be some hi-tech businesses that you can build once you reach an appropriate knowledge level. Subways everywhere. I would hope this would be a rich, clean city, not quite utopia but striving for it through knowledge. I'm not sure how the Sims will react to living in a city with little culture (venue = school/university only :-P)

Authoritarian

Country Name: The Free United Utilitarian Archipeligo (FUUA)

Capital: Prime City

Climate: Temperate

Form of Government: Dictatorship (claims utilitarianism as government type)

Ruler: Prime Citizen

Population: 6,450,000

The Free United Utilitarian Archipeligo is a small group of densely populated islands off the coast of the Ravorian Peninsula. Indeed, the islands used to be known as the Ravorian Islands (and are still recognised as such by a number of countries) until the revolution of 1855. The previously independant islands were conquered by a para-miltary force of soldiers dissatisfied with political decisions in the UUR. Threats of nuclear retaliliation if they were opposed paralysed the world powers and the islands quickly fell into the hands of the group. Little information has been gleaned from the islands since the invasion although they are represented on the world stage by a man known only as 'Prime Citizen'.

Geography

The Archipeligo consists of three large islands (denoted 'Main Island' 1, 2 and 3) as well as innumerable smaller islands, ranging from 10km to less than 50m in size. Rainfall is plentiful. The islands lie on a fault line and volcanic disturbances are not uncommon.

Civilisation

The capital, "Centre One", is located on Main Island One. Little is known about the buildings and features of the city as tourism has not been allowed since the fall of the original government. Other, smaller cities are located on Main Island One as well as some of the smaller islands.

Economy

Little is known about the FUUA economy. The UUR admits to exporting a variety of mechanical and agricultural equipment, as well as foodstuffs.

City Concepts

Yeah, Orwell eat your heart out. Prime City would be Authoritarian just for the hell of it. If possible I would only build businesses and homes that generate or use authority but I don't know if that's financially viable. All mimes will be abducted by the Ministry of Thought and re-educated into model citizens ...

Wealth

Country Name: Haven

Capital: Haven

Climate: Tropical

Form of Government: Democratically elected President, 4-year terms. No other representative government.

Ruler: President

Population: 700,000

Haven is a small island which was 'bought' by the Celerian tycoon Terence Adler from the Federated States of Celeria. He quickly transformed the island into a luxury getaway with low taxes. The island is now a major centre of world trade and a popular tourist destination. Relationships have soured with the FSC recently after Adler entered his seventh consecutive term in office, with allegations of corruption and bribery thrown liberally.

Geography

The small island of Haven is located one thousand miles from Celeria's coast. It has an inactive volcano and is stable tectonically. Several species of mammals and reptiles used to inhabit the island but have been lost in recent years.

Civilisation

Haven has only one city - Haven - which takes up a large part of the island. The remainder of the island is home to Adler's personal estate.

Economy

With low taxes and lax corporation laws, Haven is home to many multinational headquarters. Although it lacks any significant natural resources or agricultural capacity, the revenue generated from the businesses allows the tiny nation to import luxuries from across the globe.

City Concepts

Capitalism to the extreme! All of those buildings from the video on the front page would be there (Corporate One, Board of Directors) except for the courthouse... I could even build the corrupt police station :-P I'm hoping I get the ultra-clean looking city with a lot of corruption hidden underneath...

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Oh well, I'm done, sorry if I bored you all :-P

I know all of the cities are going to be griddy but I enjoyed the original SimCity so it shouldn't be too hard to cope.

[WeHeartRoyals 0]

i can think of some local cities of mine. (i live in missouri) i am classifying them how ive seen these cities (from my OWN PERSONAL experiences) in the order they influence most.

Kansas City; i would consider to be a prosperity, spirituality, creativity, and industry.

Kansas City (ks); different then kcmo (see above) id say, creativity, industry, spirituality

Overland Park; prosperity, just prosperity (really rich KC suburb)

St. Louis; maybe prosperity, obediance, creativity, and spirituality

East St. Louis; industry, obediance, sirituality

Chicago; prosperity (definatly), creativity, and knowledge

Denver; obediance, industry, and prosperity

Dallas; prosperity, industry, spirituality

Memphis; creativity, prosperity, spirituality

Oklahoma City; spirituality, obediance, prosperity

Springfield (mo); knowledge, spirituality, prosperity

Jefferson City; obediance, spirituality

Columbia (mo); knowledge, spirituality, creativity

Lawrence (ks); knowledge, spirituality

note: (prosperity WAS called wealth, for all who dont know) i consider creative cities to be farily liberal (chicago) not having candy cane streets. and spiritual cities to be big on religion, ie; most cities in mo, ks, and else where in the bible belt, but not just in christianity, but in any religion. and i view obediant cities to be capital cities, or cities that are really high on themselves, even if they arent that great (sorry st. louis) lol jk

any way, thats just how i might classify some local cities in my area if they were simcity societies' cities!

[Androv 6]

Yeah I'm going to have to see whether they've kept the Candy Cane streets for the final release. I'll have to think up some city "Magical Land - The citizens of Magical Land enjoy eating their lightposts". Or something.

[cirugo 1,889]

We can't.  They've stripped out all the tools that would've enabled us to do so.  The "energies" would've have been an excellent ADDITION to what we've all become accustomed to and truly made the possibilities endless like they hype.  What they've actually done is limit us more than we've ever been.

[panthersimcity4 162]

I'm thinking of real world examples:

Authority: Iran, with police who watch your every move and will give harsh treatment to those who misbehave, and of course North Korea

Creativity: Florence! With all of the famous renaissance artists...

Knowledge: I'd agree with the Cambridge & Oxford ideas...

Productivity: Rotterdam, New York, Gdansk, Hamburg, Singapore

Spirituality: Rome, Jerusalem, Fatima, Mecca, Kathmandu, Varanasi, etc...

Prosperity: The obvious: Hollywood, Los Angeles, Las Vegas

Now for my home (and vicinity):

Phoenix, AZ: Prosperity, maybe industry/creativity...

Tempe: Definetally Knowledge, because ASU is located there.

Mesa (where I live): Spirituality and prosperity, since there's a large Mormon temple and there's alot of commerce.

Sun City: Where all the old people are So....creativity/spirituality

Tucson: They try to be prosperity with the old western tourist trap thing there Maybe spirituality with the old Spanish missions...

[Androv 6]

More City Concepts

Productivity

Country:  Pulgor District

Capital:  Darring

Climate:  Tundra

Form of Government:  Corporate

Ruler:  Director [of the Company]

Population:  103,000,000

Summary and History

Pulgor District, located in the resource-rich islands of South Celeria, is a nation run by a massive corporate body known as 'The Company' (or 'The Pulgor Company' outside of Pulgor).  The Pulgor islands, named by the famed explorer Sir Guy Verity for the Prince of Kerland, lie just above the Antarctic Circle and were home to a number of small indigenous populations.  Exploration by geologists in early the early 16th century led to the establishment of the Pulgor Trading Company, which had full rights over exploitation of those natural resources.  The company quickly gained autonomy and during the 2nd Continental War declared independance from Kerland.  Maintaining their corporate structure, the Company defeated the combined Kerling/Celerian fleets and set about consolidating their grip on the islands.

Geography

The Pulgor Group of islands number in the thousands, although only twenty are of significant size.  The islands are thought to hold over twenty percent of the world's iron ore, as well as significant coal, oil, gold and uranium deposits.  The islands are geologically stable and the waters surrounding them often frozen for most of the year.  Pollution from the massive industry on the islands has resulted in the extinction of most native flora and flora; only several species of ice-dwelling moles and a short shrub known as the 'Pulg' remain.

Civilisation

The islands are home to numerous people, many descended from slaves in northern Pallador and Ceshin.  The indigenous population is mostly integrated into the corporate society.  Rank in the society is determined by a person's position within the company.  There is only one director at any one time, supported by a board of executives.  The capital city, Darring, is located on the northernmost island and is relatively ice-free.  Conditions for the workers in the frozen southern islands are quite poor but most citizens are used to the corporate hierarchy and see a term of service in the Vespan mines a strong selling point.  This is not disputed by the company but all of the executive board are descendants of previous board members.

Economy

Pulgor is known for cheap and reliable manufactured goods.  Transactions within Pulgor are made using PlasDollars.  PlasDollars have no physical form, instead being stored on citizen's plastic cards.  Everything on the islands is owned by The Company, including water and air.  Workers are provided with these in their workplace agreements.  Visitors must pay a fee for air depending on how long they stay in the country; the fact the air is heavily polluted with heavy metals does not reduce the fee.  All water sources require a card swipe before water will flow.  Even lives have a monetary value.  Citizens begin their adult life in debt for the consumables they have used as a child, and are not permitted to emigrate until their debt has been repaid.  The police force is minimal and punishment usually results in dismissal from The Company.  Stealing Company property is punishable by death (this includes air and water).  The citizens of Pulgor are quite accepting of this; internet use is limited and the education system fully tailored to imprinting them with these concepts.

City Concepts

Productivity is a hard concept to make a modern city out of.  Most modern cities have a major component of Prosperity as well as Productivity.  I envision Darring, the Capital<

[panthersimcity4 162]

Androv - it appears you have ALOT of empty time on your hands!

It'll be a huge departure from the old Simcity, that's for sure. I don't know, I'm begining to think it might not be as bad as it seems. I mean, beyond the cartoony graphic, horrifyingly unrealistic candy canes and fairytale world things, and nauseatingly ugly street corners and lack of diagonal streets, there seems to be an interesting idea to it. I mean, cities are more than just buildings, but the people who live in them...

[tudorjason 31]

I agree. I think I could enjoy SCS, but I've only had SC4 for 1.5 years and I'm not bored with it yet. I still am making my first full region.

[Androv 6]

Meh, I'm on holiday at the moment so I don't have time to play anything :-( (well holiday is :-) :-) :-) actually). But the good thing is I get back from the holiday about the same time as SCS comes out so that will give me something to do.

[RV1428 0]

I would give my city the following ratings:

Antwerp, Belgium

Creativity 60 % : Like many other European citys Antwerp has  art, culture, festivals and some parades.

Spirituality 20 % : There are some churches, a synagoge and a mosque.

Productivity 70 % :  Antwerp has a big, world-class harbour with many companies.

Knowledge 70 % : There is one big university with a hospital and many secondary and high-schools.

Wealth 60 % : In the rich city center there are beautiful monuments and old buildings where renovation works are going on.

Authority 40 % : There is only a police force that rides with patrol-cars with one big headquarter.