Difference between revisions of "Zhaire"

Revision as of 00:36, 28 November 2005

History

According to local legend the various caves and grottos on the island were inhabited by the fearsome Osmoph (shape-shifting trolls) who terrorised the local people. The mythical patron of the city, Apons, cut a ditch around a bend in the river isolating the Osmoph as they were unable to cross the enchanted waters of the Sep. The king of the Osmoph became so enraged he jumped the ditch and fought Apons who “thrust a burning branch into the great void of the beast, forcing him to swallow the light”. On the death of the king the other Osmoph were turned into the Etanya trees that continue to grow on the island of Zendee.

Historically the region became the home of the Gnangara religion, the first and only native monotheistic people of Biotopia. The city came to fruition as a centre for craftwork, trade and agriculture founding a rich social heritage of creativity and enterprise. At the peak of this wealth and power a second canal encircled the city and the Sandstone Colosseum was constructed. During the Early Imperial era the city was peacefully incorporated however by the Middle Empire the city was sieged and many of the unique buildings destroyed, the Temple of Euphoric Sunshine ransacked and the open worship of Gnangara prohibited.

By the Late Empire the city revived as an intellectual and artistic centre following the establishment of the City Academy - the only major independent centre for thinking and research at the time. A variety of cultural institutions opened in the city including the spread of the famous bontarks which now line the major avenues. This intellectual background coupled with the social dislocation and excesses of industrialisation made the city an important centre for revolutionary ferment. During the Civil War (1888-1894) the city was sieged several times and experienced extensive damage. Following the establishment of the First Republic the capital with symbolically moved to the city where it has remained since.

Geography & Climate

Geography

The city occupies the south-western centre of an elevated plateau between the western Haumia and the eastern Anakarua Mountains. This elevation results in the spectacularly clear skies during the day – and the cold nights that follow. The plateau is generally flat and gently undulates towards the southern floodplain and to the northern plains. In the north-eastern corner of Zendee a sandstone outcrop has prohibited development but the rest of the island is flat to gently undulating with the central area slightly higher then the peripheral margin.

The waters around Zendee Island (the Sep River to the west and Lake Odee to the east) have only three permanent islands. Esheen Island at the mouth of the Sep rises prominently from the water and divides the flow of the river along its north-south path and towards Lake Odee. Within the lake The Kadell has become completely built over and used to house a variety of institutions including a sanatorium and quarantine station. The largest of the islands is Arouha which houses the Temple of Euphoric Sunshine and the landscaped surrounding gardens.

Climate

Due to its inland position the city receives little precipitation throughout the year usually experiencing a mild winter season accompanied by the occasional thunderstorm. For nine months out of the year the weather will be consistently warm and dry with the summer heat peaking in February with an average maximum temperature of 27 degrees Celsius. A distinct climatic feature is the spring/autumn fogs that develop owing to the convection of warm and cold air laden with moisture over the city. Periodically in a cycle of roughly ten years there will be light snow-fall in winter although this quickly melts and rarely happens more then once.

People & Culture

Religion

• Atheist 41.2%
• Mother Church 18.8%
• Universal Cathedral 15.4%
• Gnangara 13.9%
• New Council 10.4%
• Other 0.3%

Unsurprisingly followers of Gnangara still bear a strong presence in the spiritual population of the city which houses some of the most religiously significant centres of their belief system. The Mother Church has a disproportionately higher representation inside the city then the surrounding districts which is historically associated with the more liberal and creative attitude of the denizens who rejected the rigid scripture of the Universal Cathedral. Many religious sites overlap particularly in the Garden of the Dead which has been incorporated for ceremonial purposes by every religion to be established within the metropolitan area. There are also a high proportion of religious and ceremonial artefacts on the urban heritage list which includes the entire island of Arouha.

Ethnicity

• Pagnaan 97.8%
• Human 1.8%
• Other 0.4%

Most of the other cities in Biotopia are centred on maritime activities providing a cosmopolitan infusion of exotic cultural mixes and a broad representation of various peoples. The inland position and smaller trade volume that passes through the city from the interior towards the ports has limited the presence of humans and other species who would historically settle around their first port-of-call. Restrictions on housing has also slowed population drift but not stopped demographic change. Migration officials had been accused of deliberately preventing humans from moving to the capital; following a three year investigation several officials were dismissed and the issue has since been resolved.

Attractions

1] Garden of the Dead

Revered as one of the most sacrosanct sites in the city it has been used for centuries as a place for burial, ceremony and the up-keep of tradition. Covered in thick vegetation and raising above the low-rise skyline of the surrounding suburbs the Garden of the Dead remains a timeless place of ancient woodland dotted with mystic relics that still live with a strong spiritual resonance.

2] University of the Republic (Biotopian National University)

Originally established as the City Academy the university has a long history of independent research and academic credentials. It now occupies a sprawling campus including colleges, libraries, museums, galleries and an amphitheatre. The grounds of the campus forms the “green triangle” between the university, the Garden of the Dead and the island of Esheen with its historical observatory around the mouth of the Sep River. Approximately 18,000 students are annually enrolled with the university.

3] Zhaire First Cathedral

One of the largest buildings of worship in Zhaire the First Cathedral is the epitome of Late Empire architecture with its use of industrial materials such as the brickwork, copper roofing and steel support beams. The building makes a deliberate but restrained reference to the simplified design of the Early Imperial era. Although it lacks the elaborate decorations of most Universal Cathedrals there is a subtlety that incorporates religious symbols into the building. Despite the building maintains a sense of modesty and refrain.

4] Hero Stadium

“The stade” as it is often referred to is one of the largest single buildings in the city. Constructed to house annual ceremonial events and provide a new home for a variety of the sports events including the New Year Match. Sport is an important part of the social fabric of the nation and the stadium attracts an estimated 70,000 people a year. 15% of seats are reserved throughout the year to be distributed as work bonuses and another 6% of seats are allocated by the stadium-run lottery system that helps to raise revenue.

5] Arouha Island

The Temple of Euphoric Sunshine occupies the centre of the island and is surrounded by landscaped gardens. The Library of the Flame and Pavilion of the Martyrs are also located on the island. The island is usually open to the public but it still provides a daily function to the Gnangara community. The simple designs that pre-date the Imperial era are an inspiration of the designs of White Pine Plaza which has attempted to fuse these ageless design styles with modern building materials to infuse a sense of local identity.

6] New Parliament House

During the Civil War the original Republican Parliament convened in the Zhaire Town Hall before it was decoyed by artillery fire forcing the government to meet at the Whiterose Tavern; to commemorate this Parliament still holds its opening secession in the Tavern each year. The Parliament building is constructed on the artificial island of Onkago and houses a variety of important government offices. The building itself is comparatively small because most representatives have offices in the adjacent building complexes.

7] Sandstone Colosseum

Standing as the ancient symbol of the city the Sandstone Colosseum was constructed at the height of the golden age which pre-dated the Imperial era. Before the construction of Hero Stadium the site was used for most of the major sporting events in the city. The Colosseum is being slowly reconstructed following water damage to the foundation stones. Most ceremonies in the city link the colosseum with the waterfront via the Plaza of White Pines.

8] Plaza of white Pines

This historic plaza links the waterfront to the heart of the city and is lined with some of the most famous retail and residential buildings in the city. A major redevelopment program has occurred at the eastern end of the Plaza replacing a light industrial area well-known for its rampant prostitution and resident artistic community. The Plaza was used for military parades but is now used for several public events including the Harvest Festival Parade and the City Cycle Marathon. Some of the best known icons of the city such as the White Rabbit Club, Batavia Mall, Gomoko’s bontark and the Golden tower run along this road.

9] Public Gardens

Providing a mix of zoological and botanical specimens from across the world the Public Gardens are over 300 years old. In remains a highly popular destination for families and tourists as well as providing a venue to occasional music festivals. The Gardens have been working with neighbouring countries to begin a breeding program for endangered species and the propagation of rare flora to preserve isolated specimens at risk of losing genetic diversity in the wild. Some exotic species in the Garden include tuchen fowl, kokondo seals, pygmy burost and a herd of lashenty.

10] Centre for Scientific & Industrial Research

Constructed to assist in the modernisation of the economy the C.S.I.R. is placed to draw on the strong intellectual presence in the city to solve some of the most pressing problems in a broad range of scientific and industrial frontiers. The building itself is designed to be “utility neutral”; it is designed to be self-sufficient in water and energy needs and uses passive design to minimise heating/cooling needs and provide necessary space for research and administration. Weekly tours are conducted to showcase the building with its integrated interface that sees the building controlled through an internal computer network.

Media

Several stations are centred in the city including the Biotopian Broadcasting Network which provides nation-wide access to regional and local television on the recently installed fibre optic system. The government operated BioISP is also centred in the capital and integrates online radio, television and the internet together creating an “information uber-highway”.

Local Television

Free Zhaire

BBN – Central

Community Cable

BBN - National

Local Radio

99 FM BBN - Central

97 FM Monta FM

95 FM 3N

91 FM Independent FM

89 FM Community Radio

87 FM BNU Live

64 AM BBN - National

78 AM CBC - World

Newspapers

The Biotopian

The Golden Paw

Zhaire Times

The Picayune

The Tradepost

The Green Star

Citizen!

Economy

• Agriculture 1.5%
• Arts & Media 12.4%
• Bureaucracy 26.1%
• Finance 10.6%
• Manufacturing 9.8%,
• Research & Education 16.3%
• Retail 12.7%
• Services 7.6%
• Transport 3%

A rough breakdown of the economic activity in the city according to the 2004 census reveals the dominating importance of the civil service to the economy of Zhaire followed by research and education and retail. In total the government is directly responsible for about half the employment in the city and indirectly a substantially higher figure because most other business is related to supplying the needs of those citizens. The manufacturing sector is relatively independent of the government presence and centres on the production of high-quality components for the aerospace and electronics industry.

The city has an average income higher then the national average because of the strong presence of government employees who promote the strong performance of the retail and service industry. Banking and finance is also an important occupation with the national mint and Central Bank being located in the capital’s financial centre. The arts also play a strong role fuelled by the yearly inflow of tourists who visit the many galleries and theatres as well as locals who are avid cultural consumers. The black market thrives on the demand of well-paid civil servants and for those in the know there is usually a greater variety of contraband goods on sale then elsewhere in the nation.

This results in the periodical cracking down by local police who usually need to discreetly dispose of their own purchases or risk being caught in random spot-checks used to counter the notorious corruption that was the hall marks of the capital police force. The city attracts plenty of high-tech goods and hard-to-get foreign goods such as perfumes, spirits, clothes and high-technology goods which bring in the annual “discount tourists” who travel to the capital just to buy these otherwise scare products during the discount period in May.

Infrastructure

Education

The numerous institutions and colleges in the city are highly prestigious although most acclaim is brought in by the tertiary facilities with primary and secondary schools preforming to the national average. Numerous libraries, galleries and museums are open to the public and are responsible for the saying “books and bags” when talking about a trip to the capital because of the duel interests of these many fine facilities and the variety of shopping available in the city.

Health

Healthcare is excellent with many research clinics operating in the city leading the frontier of medical research in the nation. There is also a small chain of medical factories that engineer and produce specialist medical equipment and artificial implants. Like elsewhere in the nation healthcare is free and the waiting process is generally expedient. The Zhaire Academy of Medicine and Dentistry is located on the campus of the University of the Republic.

Transport

The ancient design of the city was based on ringed arterial roads intersected by radiating roads drawn from the centre of the city. This model has been preserved and means that the inbuilt transport system services Zhaire with an efficient public transport system, one of the few options to travel around the city. The bus system is the most extensive network and operates between 5am-12:30am on most routes; trains are used largely for cargo transport and passenger movement in and out of the city with the subway system carrying most people within the metropolitan district.

There is also a regular ferry service across Lake Odee. During peak hour trains and busses fill quickly and some commuters prefer to ride home along the broad cycle-paths on most city roads. Although automobiles are used almost exclusively for government officials (only during working hours) trucks and other heavy vehicles regularly supply the city and remove its waste. The police and other emergency services also use private automobiles but aside from these conveniences most people are resigned to using the futuristic looking public transport system, especially during summer when trains and busses provide one of the few air-conditioned outlets in the city.

Housing

Like all cities in Biotopia there are restrictions on development and migration to halt over-development, urban sprawl and the growth of ghettos and estates through mismanagement and under-investment in public infrastructure so endemic to large metropolises. Housing is a problem in the sense of attaining permanent accommodation because of strong demand but there are limits to the maximum population capacity and density of each urban district. Individual housing is allocated by lottery ensuring that even basic housing provides adequate living space because even the most senior government official could be subject to the poorest house available.

There are numerous hotels and short-term houses available for up to six-months but these are usually only available to workers or specialists called into assist on a project. Despite complaints about the length of time it takes to be processed and the constant under- supply of housing most citizens accept these conditions, at least begrudgingly as necessary to maintaining the high-quality of their urban lifestyles.

Sister Cities