Nothing tells you more about a city than the way you move through it. Roads, alleys, tunnels, trains, gondolas, cable cars.... The different ways to get through a city, fast and slow, tell us how people experience it on a day to day basis, the ways they encounter each other and the various locations they travel between (and stumble upon while on the move). So here's my compass pitch: Traversal.
Let's go to the historic sites first, the kind that in most cities (not necessarily this one) attract tour guides explaining history to the tourists. Monuments, architecture from another age, etc. I want to see.
Seconding food, food is one of the most important parts about a culture and a city. You can learn a lot about a people by how they cook, what they eat, and particularly how the preserve their foods.
The street food of the common people; the delicacies of the elite; the local specialties; the foods of the immigrant and sub-culture communities; the etiquette of the high table; the custom of the celebratory feast.
A historical deep dive and focus could be interesting - how did the city come to be? Any founding myths? How did it grow and attract new residents? Any historical natural or man made disasters? How has the population and infrastructure changed over time and why?
With any great city, I think it is important to look at the "breath of the city"--imports/exports. A significantly sized city isn't going to just exist on its own. It needs to be supplied, and in turn may have its own exports.
It needs commerce via trade routes. Do all traders enter through the main gate, or is there a "traders' gate" where their wares/spices/exotic animals/etc are inspected and duties are paid before entering?
It needs food from local farmers/ranchers. Do they enter via the main gate, or is there a "farmers' gate" where food is inspected for spoilage, duties are paid, and the farmers are directed to specific storage locations for the harvests to be stored around the city?
What about those that are coming in just to leave money behind rather than earn money (tourists, visitors, exhausted adventurers, etc). Do they enter through the main gate where their weapons are removed/a tourist tax is paid/papers are inspected/what have you, or are there various "security gates" that must be entered through either instead of, or perhaps prior depending on the layout of the city?
And finally, what about water travel or air travel? Since it sounds like the city is located next to water, are there docks within the city walls, or are the docks outside the city where things are unloaded and then brought in through the previously mentioned gates? For air travel, if that is a thing, do they land outside the city or in it, and are there "ports of entry" that they pass through, such as tall buildings that have their own security within, or is there an "air gate" (air port?) that they enter through?
Nothing tells you more about a city than the way you move through it. Roads, alleys, tunnels, trains, gondolas, cable cars.... The different ways to get through a city, fast and slow, tell us how people experience it on a day to day basis, the ways they encounter each other and the various locations they travel between (and stumble upon while on the move). So here's my compass pitch: Traversal.
Let's go to the historic sites first, the kind that in most cities (not necessarily this one) attract tour guides explaining history to the tourists. Monuments, architecture from another age, etc. I want to see.
I'm interested in the following things about our city, in no particular order:
* What do people do for fun?
* What kind of places do people live?
* What do they eat - and how does that food get to their plates?
* Who keeps them safe? And from what?
Seconding food, food is one of the most important parts about a culture and a city. You can learn a lot about a people by how they cook, what they eat, and particularly how the preserve their foods.
The street food of the common people; the delicacies of the elite; the local specialties; the foods of the immigrant and sub-culture communities; the etiquette of the high table; the custom of the celebratory feast.
Love the idea of starting with food - it's so informative, but not what people might think to start with usually
i tend to be interested in the main economy or resources of a place first because it tells you a lot about the size, location of the city, etc.
A historical deep dive and focus could be interesting - how did the city come to be? Any founding myths? How did it grow and attract new residents? Any historical natural or man made disasters? How has the population and infrastructure changed over time and why?
With any great city, I think it is important to look at the "breath of the city"--imports/exports. A significantly sized city isn't going to just exist on its own. It needs to be supplied, and in turn may have its own exports.
It needs commerce via trade routes. Do all traders enter through the main gate, or is there a "traders' gate" where their wares/spices/exotic animals/etc are inspected and duties are paid before entering?
It needs food from local farmers/ranchers. Do they enter via the main gate, or is there a "farmers' gate" where food is inspected for spoilage, duties are paid, and the farmers are directed to specific storage locations for the harvests to be stored around the city?
What about those that are coming in just to leave money behind rather than earn money (tourists, visitors, exhausted adventurers, etc). Do they enter through the main gate where their weapons are removed/a tourist tax is paid/papers are inspected/what have you, or are there various "security gates" that must be entered through either instead of, or perhaps prior depending on the layout of the city?
And finally, what about water travel or air travel? Since it sounds like the city is located next to water, are there docks within the city walls, or are the docks outside the city where things are unloaded and then brought in through the previously mentioned gates? For air travel, if that is a thing, do they land outside the city or in it, and are there "ports of entry" that they pass through, such as tall buildings that have their own security within, or is there an "air gate" (air port?) that they enter through?