Xilare

Overview

Xilare, with the VCSE tower dominating the skyline

Xilare, the capitol of Xenov Province, is the second largest city in Vetalia and home to the world's largest stock exchange, the Vetalian Combined Stock Exchange. Its 2030 census population was 53,675,000 and has grown consistently over the past two decades. It boasts a mixture of historical and modern architecture, with the city's towering skyscrapers mixing with the Imperial-era marble edifices of the Old City. Compared to other cities in the nation, Xilare is noted for its liberal social attitudes and free-market economic outlook, which has produced great prosperity However, the combination of social freedoms, abundant wealth, and the congregation of the world's greatest corporations almost ensures that city politics are corrupt and self-serving to organized crime.

The city lies on the Nera Bay, which connects to the Southern Antilan Ocean some 200km out. This produces a more humid climate than its geographical location suggests; it is in the humid tropical climate zone despite its location on the edge of the arid, tropical continental zone. However, this warm weather also produces more serious weather conditions such as hurricanes and floods, but investment in the city's infrastructure has reduced the severity of these problems.

The Old City is an architectural marvel, with several blocks of marble edifice and archaic construction reflecting the city's role as a major economic center of the Imperial era as well as the home of the imperial Summer Palace. The old Vetalian Stock Exchange building is currently used as the headquarters of the Galie/Restare Group, the largest brokerage in Vetalia. The district also boasts several sizable parks, along with the old Imperial Archives, which serve as a museum of local as well as national history. The end of the Old City is marked by the VCSE Tower and the modern architecture of the city center. The VCSE tower is the tallest building in the city and home to the headquarters of the Vetalian Combined Stock Exchange.

Economy of Xilare

Private Sector Overview

Xilare boasts a robust, modern economy centered on its financial services sector. This sector employs some 23% of the city's workforce, followed closely by information technology and biotechnology with another 17%. The rest is distributed between other services and manufacturing, which employs a small 7% of the population. As a result of its supremacy in finance, Xilare boasts a per capita income of $118,216, or about 63% above the national average of $72,525. Its main unemployment rate is very low, hovering around 2% (compared to 3.30% for the rest of the nation). However, the city also has one of the highest cost of living indexes in the nation and the city's continual growth has pushed up the rate of inflation to significantly above the national average.

The city's economy continues to grow above trend in virtually all aspects, although manufacturing employment has been greatly reduced over the past two decades due to wage inflation and more affordable conditions overseas and in northern Vetalia. which also has the benefit of close proximity to raw materials. The city GDP grew 4.3% in 2032, and has grown over 4% for the past three with growth expected to moderate to around 3.8% in 2035. The most recent recession occured following the bear market of 2016, a localized problem that did not expand significantly beyond Xenov province. Since then, the government of the city has taken steps to increase their ability to better respond to economic slowdowns, and this has been reflected in the city's amazing seven-year expansion.

Public Sector Overview

Compared to Vetalia City, Xilare does not have the same scale of government or government expenditure as the national capital. In FY 2033, total government revenues were $486.34 billion dollars. This works out to an average tax rate of 17%, compared to 21% nationwide. The tax structure in Xilare is progressive, making it somewhat different than the flat tax assessed in other parts of the country, and the city and province are the only regions that will retain capital gains tax after it is phased out in the next decade. However, the city's excellent services and low corporate tax rates attract investment and employment despite the presence of additional taxes. A problem with the system is that large piece of that revenue comes from the various taxes levied on capital gains and other transactions, making it more vulnerable to slowdowns and declines in the stock markets. As a result of the bear market of 2013-2016, the city government established a Reserve Fund to help cover the decline in revenue during these periods, which by 2016 had reduced real government income by nearly 32% and necessitated serious cutbacks in services. However All yearly surpluses up to $10 billion/year are put in to the fund; if surpluses are larger than $10 billion, the remainder is refunded to taxpayers via a special tax rebate . As of 2033, the fund holds $54.9 billion and is growing healthily with the rise in tax payments over the past few years.

The city offers nothing in the form of social security or welfare programs; all issues surrounding retirement are the responsibility of employees in both the public and private sectors. However, since 2013 the government has offered companies a plan by which financial services will offer commissionless trading and investment in the stock markets as part of a package to stimulate the use of private investment accounts as a retirement fund. There are similar plans for people who earn less than $30,000/year, but this does not have sufficent support from the Council yet due to the large government oversight required.

Other than taxes, the city raises money through the sale of municipal bonds; the city plans to offer $30 billion of them per year over the next decade to cover several major public works projects, much in the same vein as Vetalia City's Urban Renovation Project. They are 10 year certificates that yield 6.5%/year, and most have been sold to corporations and financial services companies wanting a secure investment with solid real returns.

Security Forces

Military

There is a significant military presence in the outskirts of Xilare, consisting of a Vetalian Ministry of Internal Security regional headquarters as well as several military bases. These bases are focused primarily on the development of new weapons and the training of elite units known as the Vetalian Praetorian Guards. The net employment of these facilities is around 62,000 civilians and 500,000 soliders in various occupations. Several units of the Vetalian Army also serve as emergency police, called up in response to civil unrest or natural disasters. Their last major deployment was during the summer of 2020, when a significant number of poor neighborhoods had their power cut off due to a pricing dispute with Xilare Integrated Atomics which ultimately found that both the corporation and these neighborhoods had violated the law in their actions.

Police

For day to day policing, the Xilare Police are the primary force deployed. The force has 300,000 members, of whom 250,000 are on duty at any time. The force is officially organized in to 16 districts according to relative crime rates, but it is common knowledge that organized crime syndicates' influence in the force plays a major role in the distribution, at least in the areas where they operate. This is most obvious in the Xilare Industrial Docks, where the number of police on duty at any time is 1,200; the next lowest total is 7,600 officers for the suburb of Sevastovo, which is far less densely populated than the Industrial Docks.

Nevertheless, the force is remarkably effective at controlling the non-organized crime in the city, in many cases with the help of organized crime syndicates desiring the removal of a competitor. Violent crime, along with sexual assault and muggings, are a good deal lower than the national average along with virtually all other criminal offenses. However, external observers have concluded that Xilare has rates of white-collar, identity, industrial espionage, prostitution, drugs, and black-market crime no less than three times the national average. The influence of organized crime in the city is far stronger than in Vetalia City or other major cities, and this is a constantly politically embarrassing problem for the city government.

However, there is also a program underway in Vetalia City to create a new force of artificial intelligences that could work as "watchers for the watchmen", taking a more proactive stance against organized crime thanks to their higher intelligence and demonstrated loyalty to the ideals of the force and the Vetalian government.

Politics

Orlov Family

Xilare is ruled by the Orlov family, of whom Baron Yuri II is the current heir to the Xilare government. This family and their city is one of a handful that still retain the ceremonial nobility titles of the Empire, most likely due to their support for the Republican forces during the revolution as well as the strong popular support for their rule. The Baron has virtually unlimited power to appoint and fire city officials, and is the city's representative at Imperial government functions as well as during meetings of the Senate, should the input of major cities be required. However, his power is not unlimited and can be easily overridden by a simple majority vote of the Council. The Orlov family's banner is two bands of scarlet and a center band of gold.

They are also rumored to be one of the richest families in the nation because of their involvement in various types of organized crime, with a net wealth of $10.92 billion in 2033. This is particularly notable when the official yearly salary for the Baron is $1.5 million and they have long lost most of their land and title holdings in the aftermath of the Revolution. Although they are legitimately very wealthy, some estimates place 55-70% of their wealth as derived from illegal actions. It is also rumored that the Baron holds a majority stake in Xilare Integrated Atomics, although concealed behind a maze of shell brokerages and holding companies that conceal his control over the company. His involvement in the blackout of 2020 is nebulous at best, although there is coincidental evidence that a cluster of minor companies had shorted 1 million shares of the company about a week before. The stock plunged shortly after the shutdown, netting those companies a profit of $230 million. He was forced to testify during hearings on the company's misdeeds, but insufficient evidence was found to neither link him to the company nor the blackout. Nonetheless, his strong leadership and commitment to the development of the city have won significant public support and these controversies have had little effect on his policies in the city.

City Council

The day-to-day management of the city is the responsibility of the City Council, comprised of 16 members elected every 5 years by the residents of the city. This body meets 2 days per week and decides on policy for the various departments; twice per year, the heads of the city's departments submit their projected department budgets for the year and the Council deliberates over the best course of action. This budget is then submitted to the Baron, who can either veto it or sign it in to law. An important note is that the Baron's veto can be overturned by 3/4 vote, and the Baron cannot dissolve the council under any circumstances.

Departments

Xilare's public services are provided by a group of departments; these are the Security Department (split in to Police and Fire), the Education Department, the Health Department, the Public Works Department, the Technology Department, and the Transportation Department. Each of these has a department head who manages his department according to the goals set by the City Council in their ten-year plans or the directives of the Baron. In 2033, $430.34 billion was spent by these departments. They employ a combined 1,600,000 people and have a payroll of $33.6 billion/year.

The health department has seen the most expansion as of late, given the significant increase in funding on the national level in the past decade. Similar expansions are planned for education and infrastructure as the government continues to eliminate subsidies and handouts to businesses, which consumed upwards of 18% of the city budget in years past. Currently, the biggest project in the city is the construction of a massive new subterranean public transportation system, to replace the increasingly over-utilized and outdated Xilare subway system. The project will cost Ş200 billion over 15 years, and construction is progressing swiftly with the first lines ideally operational in 2035. Plans are also underway to totally upgrade the city's water system to make it self-regulating and to replace as much of the pipe network as possible to reduce leakages and maintenance costs. This project is in the planning stages, and will likely be initiated in the next five years.

However, the public sector of the city has its share of corruption. Losses due to corruption within the departments cost the city as much as $4 billion/year, mostly through embezzlement and outright theft of supplies or the use of no-bid (organized crime) suppliers for construction products; this last action has resulted in serious damage to major projects due to the subpar materials supplied by the firms and played a major role in the "war" on organized crime launched by the government in recent years. To this end, the Vetalian Ministry of Internal Security has more than doubled its presence in the Department of Public Works since the widespread and rapid deterioration of new public roadways in the 2010's, which were found to be the result of inferior construction methods as well as outright embezzlement of funds. These abuses were corrected and the roads repaired, but the companies and individuals involved escaped prosecution and are still wanted criminals. The police department also suffers corruption, but it is far harder to detect than in other departments. It is even suspected that the police chief is a member of an organized crime syndicate, with public opinion attributing him to the Surikov crime family. The greater oversight of the City Council on the other departments has resulted in them having a far lower degree of corruption than the police or public works. Nevertheless, there are many employees in both agencies that are honest and hardworking, and it is likely that these agencies will eventually be brought under control by the Council.

Miscellaneous

Quality of Life

For all of its much-publicized problems with corruption, Xilare boasts an excellent quality of life for most citizens. The entire city has access to clean and unpolluted water, free schools and abundant police, fire and health services. Pollution, even in the poorest districts, is very low due to a combination of technology, geography, and the city's lack of a large industrial sector. Literacy is 100%, and the average life expectancy is 89.9 years for men and 94.4 years for women due to the low child mortality rate, excellent healthcare, and rapid advancements in medical technology.

Problems

Like much of Vetalia, the city's prosperity also has a dark side. It is manifested in a large income gap between rich and poor, and workers have little in the way of rights in the event of a large scale corporate shutdown or discrimination due to the difficulty of proving discrimination or illegal firing claims in court. In a concerning situation that has brought protest from social reformers as well as Vetalian government officiels, there is nothing a citizen can do in regard to their utility rates unless they directly appeal the City Council; this body only hears some 1,000 complaints a year of 19,000 filings. The city's rampant corruption also means that there is little refuge from organized crime for those who cross it, save for the protection of Vetalian Ministry of Internal Security offices, whose agents are still trying to gain the edge on the criminals they have been dispatched to fight. However, the battle is a difficult one; they have only been in place for a decade or so while the syndicates date back to the Imperial era. The government has allocated extensive resources to this fight and has gained ground, but there is still a long road ahead.

Justice System

The city justice system is an arm of the national court system and so is not influenced by the city government, except during confirmation hearings for judges. For more on the Vetalian legal system, see Vetalian Legal System.

Organized Crime

Little is known about the extent of organized crime in the city, but some estimates place its value as high as Ş200 billion per year. There are three major crime syndicates, the Surikov family, the Bakhtin family, and a foreign group known only as the Organization, which is based upon testimony from arrested criminals who have dealt with the group in the past. The Surikovs are currently dominant although there have been signs that they are faltering following the government seizure of their hydrogen-extraction and cybernetics businesses to settle a $27 billion "back tax" bill (a government euphemism for seizure of property known to be tied to organized crime but not proven, with the idea being that this settlement will enable them to cripple the group financially).

Culture

The city has a rich cultural history dating back centuries. The Xilare Opera House, first built in 1785, is the longest operating performing arts center in the city and one of the oldest in the nation. Music and live theatre are performed at the Tsarkoya Performing Arts Center, and modern music, sports, and miscellaneous entertainment (such as the wildly popular Tastes of Xilare festival held every July) are held at Xilare Municipal Stadium and its expansive outdoor Imperial Gardens, which are an ongoing historical reconstruction and restoration of the centuries old gardens that had once been part of the sprawling Summer Palace compound. There are five major museums; the Bunin Museum showcases modern art and sculpture, the Anatoly Kaverin Museum is the premier curator of classical art and sculpture, the Savinkov is the home for various types of city, national, and worldwide pop art and cultural memorabilia, the Zamyatin displays ethnic artwork from around the world, and the actual Summer Palace displays historical texts and priceless antiquities. Thousands of smaller performing arts companies, theatres, gardens, ethnic restaurants, music halls, bars, and nightclubs cater to the styles of a diverse and literate populace as well. There are also dozens of independent holofilm makers and virutally countless numbers of writers and other literary artists. The city's cultural scene is often rated among the best in the country and world, and cooperation between universities in Xilare and Vetalia City has produced a number of new discoveries in art and archaeology.

The city also subsidizes various types of art from its Xilare Endowment for the Arts; this fund holds about $18 billion in assets, along with a $2 billion/year contribution from the Imperial government. This, along with an established history of cultural literacy and bringing culture to all citizens regardless of social class has made Xilare a leader in the cultural evolution of Vetalia.