elgatofilo

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) ----------------------------- 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.

--------------------------------- 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. --------------------------------- 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.

wow, this is just superb, you can easily see all the work that went into this.

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.

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. ------------------------ Note: everything up to year 2005 is factual information. ------------------------ 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

Wow, what an intriguing storyline, I bet it will have great depth. Good luck.

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