Sophia, Halandra

Sophia is the second largest city in Halandra. It is a coastal city, located in the northwest of the country, at the mouth of the River Aldwych on Sophia Harbour. Sophia is the capital of the Lake District.

History

Early History

Sophia was founded as Aldwych Village on 9 November 1879, in an early government scheme to develop the area. The town was originally named after the first mayor, Paulo Aldwych.

Originally a sleepy fishing village, traders soon began to take advantage of Aldwych Village's deep, protected harbour. With the discovery of gold deposits in the nearby foothills of the Herzog Range, the town boomed and it became Halandra's "second city" after the capital Valerius in the south.

During the period between 1881 and 1889, the population of Aldwych Village swelled from a mere 750 to nearly 100,000. As the population of the town grew, there were concerns among the city fathers about a strain on resources and infrastructure. There were also concerns amongst the more conservative citizens that the Victorian sensibilities of the day were being eroded by the "rough and ready" nature of this port town on the edge of a nearly lawless mining outpost.

The village was granted a charter from the federal government to establish an education system, and a new name was sought that would lend the town an air of greater sophistication. The name Sophia was chosen from amongst a number of choices submitted by citizens. Other options included names such as Athens and Cambridge.

The city continued to develop and grow, and with the steady increase in the levels of the workforce, the local economy began to diversify. Today, Sophia is the second most populous city and the second most important economic hub.

City Plan

With the new name of Sophia and the official recognition by the federal government, new government funds and opportunities came to the city. These funds were allocated toward the purpose of rationalising the city's layout. Over the course of a decade, Sophia became a showcase for urban design and architecture, and thus the city gained its new reputation as "the Garden City."

Sophia's city government has carefully managed the city's growth and sprawl, making it a very compact urban environment, taking issues of traffic flow, pedestrian and cyclist safety, pollution, and overall quality of life into consideration.

Economy

The three pillars of Sophia's economy are high technology, transport, finance, and higher education. Metropolitan Sophia boasts five institutions of higher education, two of which revolve around high technology and biotech. The Northern Halandra Institute of Biological Research is based in Sophia.

Major Sophia-Based Companies

1. Aldwych Semiconductor (semiconductors)
2. NTC (security software)
3. OneStop (convenience store chain)
4. Sophia Electric (electricity provider)
5. Telextra (mobile and LAN telecom)
6. VanWijk (pharmaceuticals)
7. Yamashita (electronics)

Culture

Demographics

Sophia, as with any major city in Halandra, is shaped by immigration. What makes Sophia unique is the fact that it is the only city in Halandra where the Asian immigrant community makes up the majority of the population. By the figures of the last census, Asian-Halandrians make up 50% of the city's population, followed by Europeans at 48%.

Museums

• The Sophia Centre for Modern Art and Design
• The Sophia Transport Museum
• The Sophia Museum of Natural History
• Asia Society of Sophia

The Garden City

It is estimated that greeery makes up some 38 percent of the city's surface area. Every major boulevard is lined with lined with trees, and the road medians overflow with flowers. An army of volunteer gardeners swarm over the city early each morning on utility bicycles fitted with trailers to tend to the city's numerous public gardens.

Universities

• Aldwych University
• Sophia Technical University
• Yamamoto Sakae University

Transportation

Cycling

Sophia was the first city to employ elevated bike-lanes on a large scale. Like elevated highways, these lanes criss-cross the city, linking the major districts to one another, separating cyclists from the dangers of road traffic. As a result, Sophia has the highest per-capita bicycle ownership of any city in Halandra with two bicycles for every resident. According to a Sophia Times newspaper survey, some 41 percent of the city's residents between the age of 14 and 55 use their bicycles for at least a part of their commute to work or school.

Other Readable References: Sophia Cycleway

Mass Transit

Sophia is served by a privately operated network of monorails and public buses. The average monorail fare is 3 florins, and bus fares are 2.50 for local service. Fares for express buses are dictated by a zone system, with trips to the outermost zones higher than those closest to the terminal in the city centre.

Roads

The road network in Sophia is highly developed but many of the roads require a toll, in a city government bid to encourage more people to ride mass transit. Yamashita Boulevard, Stoltenberg Street, and the Aldwych River Parkway levy tolls to travel into the city centre.