Cliffton

Cliffton Metropolitan Area

<div" class="plainlinksneverexpand"> Looking From Palace to Alliance </div>
Statistics
Founded :	287 BC
Population:	32,252,421
Function :	Financial and Adminstrative Centre
Administration
District:	Cliffton Metropolitan Authority
County:	Royal Forrest
Region:	Cliffton Duchy
Parties :	Maanenland First Democratic Socialist Alliance Maanenland Minority Movement Liberal Democratic Party of Maanenland Maanenland National Party Independant Alliance Cliffton Secession Movement [[Worker's Justice Party] Social Christian Party Save the Public Sector Party Green & Environmental Party People's Democratic Movement
Executive:	Liberal Democratic Party of Maanenland
Mayor:	Sublieutenant Alex Miere]]
Location
Map:	<div" class="plainlinksneverexpand"> clifftonin maanenland </div> <div" class="plainlinksneverexpand"> cliffton city </div>

Cliffton City is the largest city in the nation of Maanenland and has the greatest metropolitan areas of all Maanenic cities. The City of Cliffton is a world centre for commerce and diplomacy. Large immigration to the city in the 1970s has given the city a very cosmopolitan feel whilst integrating new cultures into the mainstream.

The city is located in Cliffton Duchy and is it's capital city , it is also it's own metropoltian county. It is the historic seat of power of Maanenland and so has a wide range of historical monuments as well as some of the most cutting edge in modern architecture.

It's large population of over 30 million is a mix of heavily concentrated high-rise development in riverside boroughs surrounded by ultra-low density suburbia.

Up to 15% of the entire output of Maanenland is from Cliffton , although the city contains some of the worlds richest districts the level of unequality is higher in the area then anywhere else in the nation.

The Metropolitan District of Cliffton

The city itself (as opposed to the metropolitan district) is at the very centre of the conurbation. It is the oldest and most densley populated of the boroughs of Cliffton. Politically it is split into 3 seperate parliamentary constituencies , Cliffton Central , Cliffton City and Cliffton Oakheath all of which are Maanenland First controlled. The city council is also held by Maanenland First.

Geography and Climate

The Cliffton Metropolitan Area covers an area of 2436 square miles . The river Cliffton flows through the centre and so has made Cliffton a small but important port on the river which has shaped the cities geography and economy. Development originally started on the south bank of the river as it is much higher than the former swamplands of the north that were regarded as being un-navigatiable. The south is therefore much more historic. There traditionally has been only one bridge at Crossford up until the advent of steel and modern building procedures.As the city is situated on a large plain there has been no relief to impediment the growth of the city and so it has grown and sprawled in a circular fashion.

The River Cliffton in the city has been largely untouched by man and contiues to flow much as it did when the city was first founded. There has been some canal and aquaduct building downstream however due to the problems of flooding during the winter months. These "ditches" remain dry most of the year round and are regarded as eyesores by many of the locals. An alternative is currently under investigation.

Maritime winds give the city a temperate climate. There are hot summers usually followed by severe winters with heavy , but not frequent , rain throughout the year. In the winter months up to 70% of the days are overcast. Summer temperatures usually peak at 37c however global warming is starting to push this higher. Heavy snowfalls are a major problem in the winter months with several metres falling in relativly short time. This is hampered by temperatures that frequently dip down to -10c. Anthropogenic heat is seen as a problem in the city , in summer months it is not uncommon for temperatures to be 15c higher in the centre than the surrounding countryside which puts large strains on the city's water supply.

History

The name Cliffton originally came from an early settlement closer to the cliffs with the border of the Dycan valley. The original name of the city was Naer Cliffrie (Near Cliffs in ancient maanenic). The Naer part fell out of popular usage. Another theory is that the name of the city was taken from the surrounding territory , the cliffed area.

The fortified settlement of Ciffrie was the adminstrative centre of the surrounding counties and was seen as a beacon of civilisation in stone age Maanenland. Evidence of pre-Feudal times has largely been destroyed or built over with the exception of an ex-watch tower at Hanson Point called St. John's tower which has been preserved by the local population and is a popular attraction for tourists.

As the city expanded it attracted the attention of nearby rivals who were becoming concerned about the strength of the early city , with a population of nearly 900 it was by far the largest settlement in Maanenland at this time. This resulted in what is known as the Great War of Dycan between Cliffton City and a coalition of surrounding states in 11 AD. The invasion was compromised when the early diplomat and explorer Vilnus van Benn heard of the plot and raced back to his home city to warn the Lord Mayor. After the sucessful repulsion of forces from the city the city governors decided to annexe large swathes of land around the city increasing the population of the city-state (and so it's power) massivly forming a new coaltion called Dernforn in 112 AD.

In 712 the city formed an agreement with Kingsborough to form the Cliffton Duchy with the city at it's centre. At the centre of the United Kingdom of the Maanenlands the city flourished.

During the civil war the city was the base from which the hordes of Edward van Maanen conquered the rest of the nation. The King of Maanenland was beheaded in Fletchurch Castle in the city , today a popular tourist attraction.

Cliffton City then grew steadily over centuries, surrounding and making suburbs of neighbouring villages and towns, farmland, countryside, meadows and woodlands, spreading in every direction.

Modern Cliffton

Today the authority area compromises the city-centre (Cliffton City) and several surrounding boroughs that are united under the Metropolitan Authority of Cliffton. The centre for activity in the city is the Royal Borough which is the main cultural , shopping and entertainment district of the city and is a cultural beacon to the world. Most of the Maanenland Governments day to day activities take place also within the royal borough. The home of most of Maanenland's largest manufacturing giants is based in the commercial sector of the city called the Alliance District.

Cliffton attracts large amounts of tourists and tourism from around the world. The main attractions in the city are the historic Town of Cliffton which has remained largely untouched in over 400 years. The Royal Borough is a major hotspot due to it's high number of bars , shops , restaurants , cinemas and pubs. The government section of the city in the royal borough also attracts large amounts of people as access is denied to the state capital. The Royal Houses of the van Maanen dynasty are a major tourist attraction and limited tours are given around them. Duchy Row is a major tourist attraction where the great and good for Maanenland's past look down on onlookers as they walk down The Mall. The main road from the historic Maanenland capital to the present day residence of the Maaneland Royal Family. The rivarly with Stretford has produced amazing architecture such as the UID Building and Cliffton Central Railway Station.

Clifton Metropolitan Districts

City District

Is the legal City of Cliffton and the first major settlement in the area.

Alliance District

The alliance district is the national centre for the giants of the Maanenland economy such as the automobile industry and other such manufacturing concerns. It is the most autonomous of the districts and has its own limited government. It is governed by the Lieutenant of the Alliance who resides in the Alliance Building , the third largest building in the city and nation. It has it's own army , navy , airforce , police and legal system. Historically the area was the centre for rich industrialists to meet and discuss matters of state. Thus security has always been a major concern.

Royal Borough

The Royal Borough is reffered to as The Soul of the City (as opposed to the Alliance district which is known as the heart) . It contains the most stunning architecture and is the home of the Maanenland beauracary. It is also the shopping and cultural captial of the nation , the most famous shopping streets being Canley Road and Market Street where most major highstreet stores have their flagship.

In the west of the district is the SoHo district which is home to the alternative lifestyles of the nation. Crime is a major problem in the small alleyways.

The Royal District is most famously home to the Duke of Cliffton who resides in the Palace of the Admirality on the banks of the river at the end of the Cliffton Mall.

The Cliffton Mall stretches from the palace to the government offices of the city in the city district.

The New City

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The New City was the former industrial centre of the city , during the industrial revolution it had some of the worst living conditions in the nation. So in 1952 the duchy government tore down nearly one hundered square miles of the city. Planners from around the world then gathered to propose ideas for a completely new city.

The New City saw thousands of tower blocks and new estates built where there were once thriving communities. This expnensive decision is still being paid off by the government.

It was soon apparent that the project was a failure and the area soon became infested with crime and disorder as well as major strucutral flaws. Organised crime flourished despite huge police funding , the matters were made worse when waves of immigrants arrived on the shores of Maanenland. This culimnated in race riots lasting nearly two months.

The New City is currently undergoing massive renovation.

Greenbank

Greenbank is an area of the city to the south of The New City that was left untouched by the development work of the 1960s redevelopment plan. Although living standards are poor here there is a strong community spirit and working class culture. As it has been undeveloped it is a chance to see the city as it once was.

Gentrifcation has been bitterly resisted in the area as has attempts by the duchy government which see's the area as somewhat of an embarrassment of the nation. Despite this crime is low and employment has remained stable for many years , in stark contrast to the rest of the city.

Holmeschurch

Holmeschurch was one of the first settlements on the north side of the river. It is a strong cultural centre with many independant art studies , galleries , film production and theatre.

Newham

Newham is the most northerly of all the districts and as such has still retained it's small town character. Originally settled around 1AD the village was built around providing services to travellers.

Today it is a modern prosperous suburb town with fast frequent commuter links to the inner city.

Cowich

Cowich was traditionally a major salt mining community with it's exports famous around the region , when the salt finally ran out in around the 1950s it was already surrounded by the surrounding metropolitan area. Today the mines are used for private storage and the town has built itself into a vibrant cosmpolitan town and has a strong French speaking immigrant population.

Keithleigh

Keithleigh is a post-industrial suburb in the North of the city and is known nationwide best for the KLN Foods factory , manufacturer of KLN Sauce. With the closure of the other mass manufacturing areas this part of the city has struggled to combat unemployment and rising crime levels.

Keithleigh Town Centre is one of the few centres to retain it's original form with no attempts at pedestrianisation. It also home to several campuses of the University of Cliffton Industrial Sciences.

Peterchester

Peterchester is a historic walled city which retains the full limits of it's outside walls following investment from Cliffton Metropolitan Council. The Peterchester Cathedral dominates the skyline of the city centre and is in stark contrast to the nearby all-glass Peterchester CitiLink terminal. Other items of interest in the city include the Palace of Peterchester and it's historic grounds.

The entire city is owned exclusivly by the Earl of Newhampton who still retains tight control over building in the town.

Broadheath

Broadheath is a leafy suburb in the north-west of Cliffton. The town centre has been fully regenerated and rebuilt after the destruction of the extensive 1960s developments.

With advancing transport links to the centre the level of new developments in the area has increased with it incurring various protests from environmental protestors.

Broadheath is the home of influential band , The Way who reference the various local landmarks in their music.

Oakheath

Oakheath is part of the north-western outer suburbs and shares much in common with it's neighbours. This district was once the home of Oakheath Docks , a major shipbuilding area and the start of the Cliffton Naval Barrage , with the decline of the cities ports so the docklands fell into disuse. It has since reinvented itself as the cities centre for watersports and is home to the [[Cliffton Duchy Watersports Centre] . Royal Maanenland Maritime Defence Force often uses the river in Oakheath for river crossing training due to the favourable conditions of the river at this point.

Popular TV soap Dunelm Street is filmed on-site in the Madison Park area of the town.

Garden City

The Garden City is built on the former estate of the Duke of Boscombe who sold his vast estate to the city government in 1911 on the terms that development on the site be of a sound environmental nature with plenty of oppirtunities for recreation.

The gardens and parks , notably Boscombe Gardens and Douglas Park are primarilly used by citizens from the overcrowded Alliance district and from all over Central Cliffton as a centre for recreation and relaxtion.

In terms of population this districts levels are much lower than the surrounding areas due to stringent planning controls which heavily restrict building.

Boscombe

Boscombe is one of the most populated district of Cliffton at just over four million and runs from the City to the edge of the conurbation. It is famous for

Shotton

Princestown

Sandbury

Alexandria

University

Henford

Bishopsgate

Fletchurch

Bromleigh Hill

Elmview

Selfonhall

St. Johns

Weston Keynes

Demographics

In 1799 the city had roughly 500,000 inhabitants making it at the time of the most populated cities in the world.

Residents of Cliffton are known as Clifftonians and has an official metropolitan population of 33million people.

As of the last census the largest ethnic group as White-Maanenic with 87% of the population reporting that. The largest religion is Christian with 8% of the population reporting that they are devout followers of christianity.

Government and Politics

The Metropolitan District of Cliffton is split into several boroughs and The Alliance District. The boroughs are by far the most important unit of local government in Cliffton and are responsible for the majority of public services in the area.

The Cliffton Metropolitan Authority is the city-wide body resonsible for co-ordination the boroughs , strategic planning and running some city services such as police , fire service and infrastructural services. The Authority consists of a union of the boroughs under the Lord Sublieutenant. He/she is elected by the Single Transferable Vote system as are the members who sit in the parliament.

The current Lord Lieutenant Basil Arkwright was elected as Maanenland First candidate in the 2001 elections.

The authority area was created in 1982 to follow on from the Cliffton County Council under the local government reform plans of the time.

The police force for the city is known as the Cliffton Metropolitan Police Force but is commonly referred to as the Citybeat.

Transport and Infrastructure

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Transport is administered localled by the Cliffton Metropolitan Authority Area Transport Agency but has it's financial control limited by the Duchy.The public transport network is one of the most extensive in the world, but faces congestion and reliability issues. The network is one of the most complex transit systems in the world with just over 8 billion journeys used every year on the underground alone.

The networks for transport are : Cliffton Underground , Busses , River Services , Cliffton CitiLink (monorail and maglev) , MaanenRail and the Elevated Railway System.

Education

The Cliffton borough of Horsemarket is the cities educational hub and contains almost every single major museum including the Maanenland State Museum , the Duchy War Museum , the Civil War Museum and the Museum of Industria are the most popular.

In this district is the historic King's University Maanenland and Cliffton Open University. Two of the best univerisites in their fields in the world. Local colleges and high schools as well as public libraries are interwoven within the "University" district , the largest university campus in Europe.

Media

The majority of nationwide media outlets are located in Stretford. Cliffton is a secondary media town where every single major network has at least one base. The original broadcasting studios of RMBC are still in operation and carry some services.

The majority of popular national newspapers are situated within Cliffton. The local media however is also very strong producing papers such as The Cliffton Local and The Cliffton Guardian.

Society and Culture

Style and Fashion

The Royal District of Cliffton is the capital of Maanenland fashion with headquaters and flagship stores of such high profile Maanenic designers such as Thom , Hautuia and John Cougland.

Accompanying this is in the same district is Market Street fashion district where most designers have their own often unique designer stores down the street. The entrance and exit to the street are the world famous Piccadilly and Coerpor department stores.

Literature

Historically Cliffton was not the natural place for writers , especially dissenting writers , to be based and write about due to harsh censorship and penalities from the government in the city.

Nevertherless the city has produced some of the nations greatest industrial age works of fiction such as Marshes and Lions , a story telling of a Cliffton filled with villians.

It was also the writing place of world-reknowned playwright Elliot Clinton and formed the location for most of his better known plays , most notable Tommmorowe.

Parades and Events

The highlight of Cliffton's event season is the Midsummer Parade which starts the two day long Midsummer Festival which attracts large numbers of tourists from miles around attracted to it's often colourful displays and the appearance of the Duke of Cliffton himself who starts the holiday which usually consists of music , street festivals and large feasts.

The first Tuesday of May see's the city shut down for the annual March of the City. This parade is not one parade and consists of several different parades in each community where community groups from the scouts to the local police force march for their organisation , this is usually a high-profile event and a source of pride for the local communities involved.

Leisure

Cliffton has a diverse range of leisure activites that were primarilly designed for the local population but have been increasingly catered for international tourists to the city.

=== Entertainment and Shopping ===