Saba - A new beginning

[elgatofilo 0]

HISTORY:

Bogota, Colombia, 2030:


As communist sentiments begin to take over the continent, The jaded colombian plutocratic oligarchy sees it's very existence threatened by the commoners they once ruled with an iron fist. In response to this threat, the oligarchs decide to tighten their control over the country, they pass more and more restrictive laws, and there corporations become more monopolistic, making it very difficult for new companies to exist. They upped the ante on the dormant civil war, in order to keep the populace in constant fear of being attacked by an unknown but most certainly evil force collectively known as guerillas. With these actions, the plebs are thought to be quelled.

Bogota, Colombia, 2035:

Fed up with living in constant poverty and artificial fear, the Colombian plebs organized under new leadership, take the capital by storm.
After several days of rioting and looting in the capital, the current oligarchic president resigns, leaving a power vacuum the communist rebels are willing to take up. Just as the communist rebels prepare to take over, a young man known as Enrique Eliecer proposes a new deal to Colombia.
In his proposal, he proposes that Colombia need not switch to communism, a move which would isolate them from the world. Rather, the implementation of communist ideas on a capitalistic framework would greatly encourage unity and equality in Colombia. In his proposal he introduces new ideas, such as anti-trust laws, welfare system, and most importantly, the promise that Colombia will no longer have to live in fear of an artificial war.

The previously communist leaders agree with Enrique Eliecer's ideas, but they do have one other request: That the capital be moved from Bogota to a newly constructed capital, with a location to be chosen by them. The movement of the capital was to simbolize the shift of power away from the aristocrats back to the people. Eventhough it would be a daunting task, Eliecer accepted, and as such, took his position as the first president of the New Republic of Colombia.

Valle de Saba, Colombia, 2036:

The location for the new capital has been chosen and construction will begin at once. The location chosen has been el Valle de Saba (pronounced SAH-ba in spanish, SAY-ba in english); and as such the name of the new capital will be Saba. Saba is a high valley located right on the Cauca river, this means that Saba will be a port city and hub of the nation, rather than the isolated mountain city Bogota was. The city is located about 1500 meters above sea level, which gives it a mild temperature of 15-25 degrees celsius, much warmer than Bogota, but still not too hot. Eliecer accepts the location and allocates the funds for the construction of the new capital, which is set to dazzle the world.

map of colombia

zoomed map with the region highlighted in yellow

Valle de Saba region ( a modified version of Rocky Mountain River by Delboy)

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tell me what you think. This is my first post here on simtropolis and my first CJ, it is based on an idea I have had for some time, on how I would create a Latin American capital. The second chapter will be coming very soon.

[mayormommy 8]

I like the concept and the region map. BTW, please convert your PNGs to JPGs before posting. Otherwise I think you're off to a good start.

[Alkaola 18]

beautiful start.. i'm expecting very much from this CJ

 

hope it will turn out great

[FreewayofFlight 41]

It will be interesting to see how this CJ turns out. Good Luck!

[barnatom 0]

Nice! I would like to see a latin american city of the future.

(Please convert your images to jpeg next time. Thank you.)



And wellcome to simtropolis. You can always ask other members for help.

[LordoftheWise 0]

Very nice start of your CJ! Like the story behind it! Well done! Is that in-game picture the entire region? Look forward to more updates!

Keep it up!

Greetz

Alexander

[Cjah 15]

Great story.I find it pretty belivable and it sounds like the new Government is going to practice the system Bostalk had during the last century.I'll keep an eye on this C.J. since I like the region and your story.Plus this is the first CJ that I know of that tackle such an area since not many even try to build a CJ on South American areas...not sure why because this CJ will do well which is a feeling I have about your work...

3200th post!

[GreekMan 246]

i really like the story.

best of luck to your capital

[Mikeaut1 261]

Nice looking journal so far. I like it! Keep it up and continue the updates!

[elgatofilo 0]

-------------------
First of all, I would like to thank everyone who took the time to reply or look at this little project of mine. And thankyou all for your kind remarks.

Also, to answer Lordofthewise's question: No, the picture is not the entire region, my laptop can only go up to 1024x768, I assume I would need a huge amount of resolution to show the whole thing; so I will just focus on specific parts of the region at any one time. You mentioned that if the picture was in game though, is there a way to picture a region outside of the game?.
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Laying down the infrastructure
As chief engineer in the Saba construction effort, let me welcome you to the construction site and explain to you what we will be doing for the next 6 months.
As amazing as it may seem there is no rail, highway, or maritime infrastructure in Colombia. This means that getting to anywhere in Colombia is very hard and slow. This of course was of no concern to the kleptocrats, who owned private jets and helicopters to shuttle them to anywhere they needed in the country. That is why most roads in Colombia look like this:


This is because all the money allocated to be used to build highways and a nation wide rail system accidentally got all mixed up and sent here instead:


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Therefore, the first priority is to begin building a more democratic systems of transport. The region will be the first to take part in the new nationwide highway and rail system. The city will also make use of canals in the lower plateau.

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STEP 1. SETTING DOWN RAIL AND HIGHWAY

In this step I'll assemble a simple highway and rail system.


nothing too special

ok, now that we have the basics, we can move onto the real hard part: canals, avenues, and step leveling.

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STEP 2. STEP LEVELING

/Note: This is my first time doing step leveling, if you have suggestions to do it better, I would like to hear them/

The region where Saba will be built has about three different elevations. Canals can only exist on the first plateau, therefore to seperate river level from the higher elevations, I will make use of step leveling.



The beginnings of step leveling and the canal system

So that i can more easily see the step levels, and to add aesthetic beauty i will be using te Modern Concrete Walls.



STEP 3. CANAL SYSTEM

Once the step leveling is completed, we can move on to the canal system. The canal system is meant to add aesthetic beauty and added functionality to the city.


laying down the canal system (what a pleasure that was)

STEP 4. Completion

Finally, the basic city infrastructure is complete, and not too shabby if I may so myself


The lower plateau, complete with avenues, canals, and step leveling


Notice the step leveling here


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Again, thankyou for your time, and any comments are appreciated.

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Footnote: The story of the new goverment is only just starting. To tantalize you till the next installment of the story of Saba I will give you a few story tidbits that could come into play later:

1. The original Colombian oligrachy is neither dead nor defeated, they have just temporarily retreated to Europe. They are patiently watching all of the new governments moves, and waiting to find the perfect window of opportunity to retake power. It is not farfetched to say that such a big project as Saba, could not be prone to accidents.

2. When the oligarchs left, they did not leave empty handed. They drained over 80% of the national treasury. Therefore our intrepid president will also be dealing with increasing fiscal pressure.

[Cjah 15]

Wow already an update posted.Great work on being quick and shoing us something pretty cool.Although I know Clombia is full of trees...I'll let it slide because the capital is more important and I understand that it is harder to zone and lay rails and highways with forests in the way.Really great stuff and that step leveling is really good.Its ow I set up my rurul areas on steps....

Good canals aswell and they will give the city that european element that is lacked throughout most southern nations...

 

Keep up the updates!

[GreekMan 246]

The government is going to have to be rebuilt, both capital and teasury.

looks good.

[elgatofilo 0]

This is an extension of the story given in the first post. If you would like to learn more about how Saba came to be, read on.

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Note: everything up to year 2005 is factual information.
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The Colonial Years

Colombia was originally a colony of Spain. It was liberated in 1819 by South American indpendence hero Simon Bolivar. Immediately after liberation, following Simon Bolivar's plans, the short lived Republic of Gran Colombia was formed; comprising modern day Venezuela ,Colombia , Panama, and Ecuador.Unfortunately, internal divisions amongst aristocrats of the era led to the secession of Venezuela and Ecuador.



After the secession, Colombia formed as an indpendent country. However, internal; divisions led to several civil wars which led to the U.S sponsored secession of Panama.

The 20th Century

A large scal civil war took place between the late 1940s and the early 1950s, known as La Violencia (The Violence). Its cause was mainly due to mounting tensions between partisan groups, reignited by the murder of Jorge Eli

[J.A.P 0]

Man, your CJ makes me remember my pueblo, in Mexico.

(do you know Shakira) (Im joking)

 

Great Job

 

 

Suerte

[Cjah 15]

Very good historical update and I'm glad this got updated.Hopefully soon we will see another city update,but untill then great job and excellent details and such.

I've always loved reading historical stories and CJs!

 

oh and behold the greatest honor I can give you....

 

My 3500th post!

[elgatofilo 0]

Thankyou cjah and J.A.P for your encouraging posts.

Just so you know, I will be posting the city update tommorow, the post will be completely dedicated to city development. I didnt have as much time as I would have liked to work on it last week, but here's a list of what to expect:

- I enhanced and widened the canals with some of the PEG objects.

- I created plazas in the inner city and am beginning placement of key government buildings.

- I have commenced work on the Saba docklands and industrial zone.

Thankyou all for your time.

[GreekMan 246]

no problem i really like it.

are you going to have a downtown area with tall buildings?

 

[Cjah 15]

Excellent!

I can't wait to see these words turned to reality.I can't wait to see the inner city aswell full of massive works and buildings!

[sloppet 3]

Very nice work! I have to say that I like the beginning of this new CJ! It reminds me of some Cj's here, with really good history!
Keep up the great work!

[elgatofilo 0]

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I know I haven't updated in a while, but unfortuntely I have been very busy. I also found myself modifying my city several times to suit my taste. Hopefully you will enjoy this update, and thankyou everyone for your continued support.
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Part 1, the Saba docklands

work has begun on the Saba docklands, This will be a fairly important port, so they should be large enough to hold cargo.


the land with some infrastructure

After the land has been selected and the infrastructure laid out, I will put the docks in the most convenient location.


laying down the docks

once that is done, I layed down the adjacent industrial zone, rail and power, as well as bridge to the other coast.


general overview of docklands

Part2, back to Saba

once the docklands where finished, I returned to Sabaand discovered I was unhappy witht the current canal configuration, so I changed it.


changing the configuration

I decided that there should be a main canal and several docks and ships on the canal.


draw bridges over avenues


overview of main canal

Then I decided to start work on the main government plaza, which will be named Plaza de la Resistencia(Plaza of the Resistance)


Starting on the plaza, using the congress building as a guide


working on the land and adjacent canals


and finally, the island that houses many important government buildings is finished as well as Resistance Avenue


larger overview of area

I hope you've enjoyed this update. Remember, if you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to ask or comment on the project. Any constructive criticism is welcome.

[Cjah 15]

I really like the use of PEGs items and canals and that stuff....

The government area looks really good.I like the transit aswell....

 

This should be interesting!

[nycsc4 5,250]

great job so far, can't wait to see how this one turns out, also love the different levels of land with the concrete walls, keep up the great work.

[jacqulina 162]

great start i love the canals i look forward to more