Episode 184: Building Better Cities

So, you're building a fantasy city: Plunk a castle in the middle, put some houses around it, make sure there are some inns and taverns, maybe a church or temple, slap it on a nice body of water, and call it a day, right? NAH. We can do better than that. In this episode, we explore ways that you can create cities that feel natural, lived-in, and unique.

Cities are idiosyncratic creatures. So many factors contribute to the development of a city, whether intentionally planned or chaotically organic: the climate, the geography, natural disasters, wars, disease, social priorities, governmental and administrative needs -- They all mean that every city has its own personality. So how can you use those various factors to make sure that your fantasy cities don't all feel like they've been copy-pasted from one very basic mold? We've got thoughts, and we share some of our favorite resources about how cities come to be.

Also: Hugo Award voting is open until August 8th! Learn more, register to vote if you haven't already, get the massive voter packet crammed full of goodies, and submit your ballot on the LA WorldCon website.

Resources: 

• Collections: The Lonely City, Part I: The Ideal City – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, by Bret Devereaux
• Collections: The Lonely City, Part II: Real Cities Have Curves – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry, by Bret Devereaux
• Great Courses: Cities of the Ancient World by Stephen L. Tuck
  • Also on Audible
• Great Courses: London: A Short History of the Greatest City in the Western World by Robert Bucholz
  • Also on Audible
• Cities that Shaped the Ancient World, John Julius Norwich
• The Great Cities in History, John Julius Norwich
• A Day in the Life of Ancient Rome, Alberto Angela
• On the Map, Simon Garfield
• The Map of Early Modern London
• Boston garbage map
• Largest Cities in the World (3700 BCE - 2050 CE)